The Lost Star
by Kazemiko
Summary: There has always been this legend among the dragons of the Windswept Plateau. They say that one day a traveler came through and went up to the Cloudsong. Her journey was unknown to all, for she had spoken to any. All that remained of her was a citrine stone. They don't know who or what the dragon was. Until now. (Updates every other week.)
1. Chapter 1

_A/N: Thank you (no, really, I'm serious) Aina Aizen for pointing out that the original first chapter of this made no sense. It was honestly just filler to get the word count up. This was my Camp NaNo 2015 project. Hopefully this newly redone chapter actually makes sense. I've updated it with the current dragons in my actual lair and the proper plot it was supposed to have. Please comment with ideas, questions, and criticisms you may have. This will update every two weeks._

**Chapter 1**

Lixian looked out over the clan from the den he shared with Sunara. His clan was preparing for the feasts and parties that would be happening. Every month from January to November one of the gods would hold their own holy festival, followed up with a special holiday for Nocturne dragons in December. It would be their first time experiencing the Windsinger's festival.

"Darling, are you alright?" Sunara put her paw over her mate's. She had never seen him quite so worked up before in her life. He was shaking and looking around with wild eyes. She could only hope that he wasn't coming down with anything. "Do you need me to get Cynran or Noreni? I'm sure they would be able to give you something to help settle your nerves."

"No. You really mustn't disturb her. She is still looking after her young. The hatchlings have just reached a few days old. I don't want to pull her away from her own children right before the festival starts. I just can't believe that I'm going to be participating in the Mistral Jamboree this year with Elder Taloni."

"It's okay to be excited. I know you must be. Kesite was during the Trickmuck Circus last month." Sunara could hardly wait to share in the Jamboree with the Nifari Clan's leader. She knew he would absolutely love the festivities that went on. There would be parades, activities and feasts through the entire week.

"I remember. She got six Shimmering Pinecones during the festivities." He turned his yellow-green gaze to her. "I'm excited and nervous at the same time."

"Come, walk the lair with me. Let's see what the others are doing. It will help you calm down and gather yourself. The festival begins tomorrow."

Lixian nodded and they went down the path that led to the Beastkeeper's den. One or two of the young were due to pass the first stage of adulthood soon. They would be brought down to get their first Familiar when they were old enough. He could see a newer creature tethered near the den. They had been looking at getting more Familiars for the clan to better suit the wider range of dragons that were coming in.

"Good morning, Critio."

"Mornin' sir...ma'am..." The Imperial moved around one of the new Familiars the clan had found. It had white fur and big frozen spines sticking out of its back. Lixian had to admit he had never actually seen one of them before in his life. It was the most interesting one he'd seen yet, barring the accidental discovery of a few of the previous year's Festival Familiars.

"What have you got there?"

"This is a stow away we found in one of the chests." The Imperial checked the Bestiary Guide laid out in front of him on a stone. "According to the Bestiary, this is a Hoarfrost Mauler. Should make a fine Familiar for Nietha. We also found a second Carmine Serthis, and Infestation Hound and a Frostbite Hummingbird to name a few. I've already sent Adrama down to the market place with the Serthis."

"That actually sounds like a brilliant idea." Lixian grinned at him. "Did you get anything new in recently? Besides the ones you already mentioned, I mean. I realize you already said quite a few."

Critio went to the pen, "Yep. I got a Poultrygeist and a Cardinal Hippogriff in yesterday. Day before that we got a Marbled Jester. We didn't really think of any dragon that she would be a good match for, but we figured that we could at least give her a new home until then.….hey, who's that?"

"Who's who?" Lixian turned, just in time to see an Imperial collapse beside the entrance to their lair. She made a low sound of discomfort and passed out beside the cairn marking their clan's boundary. "Quickly! Someone get Cynran or Noreni! This Imperial is hurt and needs their attention."

Cynran rushed over to her as quickly as he could. He had left Noreni in charge of their hatchlings back in the nesting area. The long Spiral waved a vial of salts beneath the Imperial's snout and waited to see if it would rouse her. He folded his forest wings and waited. He wondered what had caused her to be so exhausted that she would just drop right as she landed. Cynran would have to take her back to the medical den to have a good look at her to be sure that she was alright.

"Nnn….." She lifted her head and looked around. "Is...is this where the Star is?"

"Hush now. You need to rest. There will be plenty of time to talk about the Star after you've woken up." Cynran asked. They looked around at each other, no one knowing what the star that she was talking about was. They brought her inside to the den near Cynran's and lay her on a bed of soft grasses. "I think that for now, it's best if you leave her to rest. She needs to let her body relax and build back its energy after what I can only assume was a long trip, judging from the color of her eyes."

They all left quietly, for the most part. A few of the dragons mumbled to themselves as they were shooed out of the den. They went back to their normal duties around the clan.

"Could you tell me your name?"

"I am Cahaya. I came from the Sunbeam Ruins in search of a stone." Her eyelids fluttered for a second. "I...I need..."

"Take a deep breath to calm yourself. What you need the most right now is just sleep. I'll get you a cup of tea to help you relax." He didn't wait for her answer, instead sending in Noreni's little apprentice, Gooden, with a steaming cup of tea. It was one of his many almost perfected blends. He had tentatively titled this one Deep Sleep because it had a terrible habit of knocking out even the sturdiest of Guardian dragons. Fae were out for days. He had no idea what it would do for this foreign Imperial, so he gave her a quarter dose blended with water. He could still remember the day he had not warned Bullis before he'd tried it and he slept for nearly a week.

Cahaya had barely sipped it and felt her eyes already closing. Her body was warm and content. She curled up in the nest and let herself be lulled to sleep by the tea. She couldn't stop thinking about her duty. To find the Dragon Star. The jewel that once belonged to her own clan's leader. She drifted into a peaceful dreamless sleep. It was the first time she'd ever slept that soundly since she'd departed from her home clan.

Cynran followed the grassy path to the main den where Sunara held her meetings. It was an interesting development to say the least. So many dragons coming and going from the clan the week of the festival was surely a sign of things to come. He dipped his head in greeting to the leader of their lair.

"I come bearing some news that may or may not be useful to the clan."

"Oh?"

"The Imperial. She says her name is Cahaya and that she is from the Sunbeam Ruins. She's here looking for some sort of stone." He absently scratched an old scar on his foreleg. He had no idea either what sort of stone she was looking for. "I can only assume that it's a very important artifact if she is so desperate to have it back."

* * *

The Elders had gathered in one of the larger communal dens. They had to figure out what it was she was talking about. They had been asking the other dragons who lived and worked in the clan if they had ever heard of such an item. No one had any idea what it was. The closest they could come up with was that it was a relic of the Light Flight.

"What are we going to do? I mean, she's welcome to stay here with us until she finds whatever it is she's looking for. Do we even have it?" Eritti said. She represented the Arcane Flight within the Eleven Elders. She worried that they did have the Star, and just didn't know about it. "Do we even know which one of the gods the Star would have come from?"

"Considering she was from the Sunbeam Ruins, I would hazard a guess to say that the stone originated from the Lightweaver." Kalayo, the representative from the Fire Flight replied, the feathers along his neck shifting with his speech.

"That is the best assumption, but she could also be talking about something that another dragon brought to their clan. Stars are many colors of course." Kierna said, her own frill rising a little.

"I've heard stories about a stone from the Sunbeam Ruins." Xinpei looked in the books that Tairee had dropped off for them. There were no records that she could find in the Icewarden's history about the stone. She picked up the one for the Lightweaver and flipped to the index, hopeful that there would be something there about it. "Do you know anything about it, Inseza?"

"No, nothing. The Lightweaver has never told me anything even remotely mentioning a dragon star. Can you tell us what you know? If you at least share the information you have, we will have something better to work with." Inseza sighed and looked around at her brethren. There must have been something they could use.

"I can tell you the story as I was told it by my mother when I was only a hatchling." She closed the book and folded her paws over its cover. Xinpei took a deep breath and looked out at them. "Long ago, many eons before any of us were even born, when the Third Age was still young, the dragons of the Sunbeam Ruins revered a priestess. She was the most beautiful among their kind. An Imperial dragon with an ability to commune with the Lightweaver that none before her had ever possessed.

"No one knows why, but one day she fled the Ruins and went up to Cloudsong. She kept climbing higher and higher until she just vanished. The only piece of her that remained for dragons to know that she had even existed among them was a stone. Not long after she vanished, a bright golden yellow star was seen in the sky. When they held up the stone, it glowed, so it was given the name the Dragon Star–"

"Are you sure?" Arrazi opened one of his deep purple eyes and looked at them. He'd started dozing off during the tale. "I mean, why would a Light dragon come all the way to this silly Plateau before ascending? Why didn't she go to Dragonhome, where the World Pillar is?"

"Maybe she didn't know how to get there and this was the best thing she could manage?" Taloni tilted her head. She let the slight toward the Wind flight go. He was only living up to his nature as a Shadow dragon by poking fun at them. "Do you know how to get to the Temple of the Icewarden in the Southern Icefields?"

"No….I've never been there. How would I know how to get to it?"

"Exactly."

"That's still no excuse for coming to the Plateau to go up to the sky."

"Aren't we all getting off track here?" Girami looked around. She studied of each of the ten other faces. "Is not the point of this clan meeting to talk about why she thinks the stone could be here in the Nifari Clan? None of us have this stone she was looking for. I say as soon as she's healed up enough to leave our clan, we should direct her to another."

"Do you think that wise? I don't think we should send her off without at least giving her a chance to explain what she wants. We can't just send her off if we can help her find the stone thing she is looking for. If it even is a stone in the first place. What if she's actually looking for the dragon?"

Girami snorted, "That's impossible you wind-brained fool. If that dragon was alive when the Second Age ended and the Third began, do you have any idea how old she would even be? Far older than some of the GODS. She is long since dead by now."

"That's assuming that she isn't the Lightweaver herself. I mean, she is a female Goddess, is she not?" Kaluna chimed in, turning her head toward Inseza. "All we know is that she disappeared to the North. We don't actually know what happened to any of the gods. They all just left the Pillar of the World and never returned."

"Her Ladyship the Plaguebringer is at the Wyrmwound in the heart of the Scarred Wasteland. Stirring the great pot of pestilence. Everyone knows that. At least every single Plague-born does." Girami growled low. She would not stand for anyone just assuming that her deity was gone. No one would tell her otherwise.

"That's what we were told through the stories written by the Windsinger. We don't actually know what happened to most of these dragons. I'm not saying that you're not right, I'm just saying, we can't rule out that Cahaya might be looking for a piece of the Lightweaver."

"That would make more sense than her trying to find a tear or scale from a dragon that lived and died hundreds of years ago." Taloni sighed. This talk was getting them nowhere. They were only going to talk themselves in circles until they were more angry than when they arrived in the den. "Look, I say we do a blind vote. There are eleven of us, so we will not need to worry about a stalemate. I have black and white stones. We will put them into two separate dishes and then a large clay pot in the middle. Each of the Elders will come into the room and cast their vote separately. The white stones will represent keeping her here in our clan and the black stones will represent sending her away without helping. Are we understood?"

"Yes." The others filed out of the room. They were going to go alphabetically.

Taloni set up the dishes on the table and then called in the first of the Eleven, "Arrazi, you may go. Remember you cannot tell anybody which stone you cast. We need this to be as blind as possible."

They filtered back in, one at a time, casting their votes. Zahrin going last. When the Nature Wildclaw came out again, Taloni allowed them all to go in. In front of the entire council, she dumped the clay pot. Seven white stones and four black.

"By the casting of the stones, the Nifari Clan hereby decides that Cahaya of the Sunbeam Ruins will stay with us until she finds whatever it is she seeks." She smiled and went to inform Lixian of their decision. Taloni had hoped that the stones would sway in the Imperial's favor. She felt that it was right for Cahaya to stay. Windsinger had been whispering to her the entire time they were voting that it would be her best favor to remain. He did not explain _why_, only saying that her life would be in peril if she were to go beyond the cairn.

"I think we should let Xinpei finish the tale she was weaving before we adjourn for the day," Kierna spoke up again. She was one of the quietest dragons of the Elders. "Who knows what sort of information he could have for us that would be beneficial to helping her find this stone of legend that she seeks?"

"Agreed." All but Arrazi responded. He had fallen back to sleep laying on the stone bench carved with the Shadow sigil. They looked to the Tundra to pick up the tale where she had left off, their attention completely focused on her.

Xinpei cleared her throat, "Yes, where was I? That's right...the stone was called the Dragon Star because it glowed as brightly as any star in the night sky. They say it is a stone of hope, bringing peace to the heart of any dragon who comes into contact with it. The last known location of the Star was in a sanctuary in the Mirrorlight Promenade. After that, it disappeared from the records. No one has any idea what sort of stone it was, or where it eventually ended up."

The Elders all looked around at each other as they left the den. No one could be certain that they had the Dragon Star in their clan. Then again, no one could be certain that they didn't have it either. It was hard to know based on what information was available. They knew that hundreds of years ago, it was in the Sunbeam Ruins. By now it could be anywhere.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Lixian and Sunara waited patiently. Cynran told them that the tea should be wearing off soon, and that they would be able to talk to Cahaya and find out precisely what it was she was looking for. They had no idea the battle that it would bring about. They couldn't have known. No dragon did. The struggle was worse than any could have predicted.

"She is awake now. You may go in, but do not be too loud. She still needs to rest."

"Thank you. You will never know just how vital your services are to the clan. We will always be grateful for you." Lixian put his paw on Cynran's foreleg and smiled. He moved past him and into the den to talk to Cahaya. "Good morning. I am Lixian, the Founder of the clan. This is its Matriarch, Sunara. We would like to humbly welcome you to the Clan Nifari."

"It's my honor to meet you. Your clan is spoken of highly by a few I ran into in both the Sea of a Thousand Currents and the Ashfall Waste, for I came through that way to get to you. Silina sends her regards." Cahaya sat up and smiled. She had run into the dragoness on her way through, having stopped there to ask directions to the Zephyr Steppes. Only to find out that the clan she was looking for now resided on the Reedcliff Ascent.

"Our clan's council has decided that you are to remain with us until you locate this stone that you seem to have lost."

"That's good."

"Can you tell me about it?"

"The stone is called the Dragon Star. It's supposedly the heart of an old Priestess of the Lightweaver. We have many myths about it, but no actual stone to see that I know of." She raised her paws in the shape of a large circle. The stone for which she sought was the size of a dragon's heart. How could anyone have lost something of that size? "From what Halbon, my clan leader, has told me, it had a prominent place in the shrine to the Lightweaver and we think someone stole it and sold it for profit. I have been sent to recover it."

"What makes you think that is here?" Sunara wasn't upset that she was accusing them, just curious to know what about their clan made her think that she was going to find her gem among their dragons. "I just want to know, so that way I can better assist you in finding it."

She looked out of the mouth of the den, "I don't know how. I just...know. Have you ever gotten any feelings like that? Where you just know something. I can just tell that I will find something important here. I am hoping it is the stone, and nothing else."

"Ah, Sunara. I'm sorry to interrupt." Noreni stood at the doorway, a young Guardian at her side. "They requested your presence at the nesting grounds. A new pair is being bonded. They want your approval before they go into the brooding dens."

"Do you know who?"

"Islian and Simara."

"I always thought they'd make a nice couple. Of course I'll come down and give them my blessing." She turned back to Cahaya. "I'm sorry. Clan duties. I will talk to you again as soon as I can. If you wouldn't mind, I would like you to relay all of the information you have to Lixian. You will be free to roam around in our clan's territory as much as you like after that. Feel free to go meet the other dragons that live here."

"Alright." She nodded as the Mirror left.

"Can you tell me anything about what this stone looks like?"

"I am afraid all I know there is what I have already told you. It is as large as a dragon heart and yellow. I don't even know what shade of yellow myself. I've never seen it. No one under a year old has. We've all only been told stories by Teriel, our clan archivist. Even he hardly knows more than what was on a scroll we found while scavenging."

"Okay. Could you tell me some of the lore of the stone?" Lixian didn't want to upset her after her long journey. They'd already had to administer that dreadful tea to her once, she was keen to avoid a second dose if possible. "I understand that this must be difficult for you, but the more you share with me, the easier it will be for my clan to help you find what you're looking for."

"Of course." She suddenly remembered something and pulled a scroll out of the pouch she had brought with her. "Here, this is a letter from Halbon."

_ This letter is to inform you that a dragon from my clan, Cahaya, daughter of Dainsi and Hiriel, is to be passing through your lair on her journey to find a missing stone from our clan. We have sent her in search of a powerful stone called the Dragon Star. This stone is believed to be a very sacred relic of our clan. Not much is known about it. A history from the journal of our clan historian, Teriel, has been included with this letter for you to read and review. Please be aware that the longer this takes to come back to us, the more danger everyone is in. It is very important that this stone be returned to our lair as soon as possible. _

_\- With all due respect, Halbon, leader of the Mebirati clan._

The Spiral dragon read over the letter and looked at Cahaya, "Where is the history from Teriel?"

She pulled a second sheet of paper from her bag and handed it over to the clan Founder. On it was a detailed history of the Stone as far as they knew. This was the story that Teriel told to them when he had first discovered it, taken straight from the pages of his journal. Cahaya had heard the story dozens of times, and was glad to have another dragon read it from an entirely different clan.

_4th March_

_**(The Dragon Stone) **Type is unknown. All we have managed to gather is that it is some form of rock that was mined near the clan many years ago…legend states that it is the heart of a dragon that was a sacred prophetess of our Lady the Lightweaver. How true this is, is up to speculation as no dragons remain from that time to tell us whether or not this is true. What we do know is that it was very powerful. It was believed to also have some sort of key to unlocking potential in any dragon that came into contact with the stone. I personally think that they meant it could change the temperament of the dragon in question, not the actual nature. I have found a scroll here, well, somewhere any way, that talks about the miraculous powers of the stone, but does not go into detail over what those powers are. _

_ It is not yet known of what material this stone is created. I think it's a crystalline form of some sort. Possibly amber, citrine, topaz or sacridite. The least likely of which is the sacridite as it is not mined here in the Sunbeam Ruins. I don't think it's mined anywhere. The most reasonable of guesses I have as to the type of stone it is, would be citrine. It's the only one I can think of that is even mined anywhere. Citrine would have also been highly sought after back when this stone was found. Records from other times say that the "humans'" (whatever that is) liked to wear pendants and rings made from this stone. We have a lot of those today in our own Vault as I am sure many other clans do. My own clan is highly known for it's citrine jewelry._

_ I'm only postulating here. I don't know what this could be. The only text that was even remotely related to the topic vanished several years ago. We have never seen it again after that. It disappeared not long before the stone itself did. Rumor has it that someone stole the Dragon Star from our Temple of the Lightweaver (and where it was even hidden in the temple, I'll never know!) and sold in the auction house for a bundle of gold and gems. I don't remember our clan's wealth going up that much…I just wish I knew more about it. This is the actual history as far as I can extract from other texts that mention it: _

_ "A thousand years ago, in a land that held no dragons, there was a great machine. This machine was called 'The Reactor'. It was used to power various lights and tools the humans had for making weapons of warfare. They hated one another and would constantly battle over lands that belonged to other humans. Soon, they started using the energy from The Reactor as a weapon in itself. They figured out away to channel the electricity produced into a sort of tool that would fire it at their enemy. A great priestess rose among them. She warned them that if they did not stop, they would bring death to their entire species. They did not heed her warnings, and eventually The Reactor blew apart. What was left of it formed the Arcanist. Later, as the dragons of the realm were being first created, the Lightweaver in Her infinite wisdom saw the a stone left behind from the explosion. It sparkled like the rays of a thousand baby stars newly born. She cherished this stone, it's color so like that of her own hide. She bestowed this stone onto a priestess of her temple, an Imperial dragon with the gift of foresight._

_ 'Take this stone, use the power I am giving it to bring all the nations of Sornieth together. We have seen what happens when the dragons war with one another. Do not let that occur again or our entire world will be destroyed. Just like theirs.' She motioned to the ruins that were all that were left of the human race that had wiped itself out. 'I do not want my children to come to this. To war into extinction like these creatures have. Do not allow this discord to fall upon you as we have allowed it to fester within ourselves.'_

_ She tried. She tried with everything she could to do as the Lightweaver instructed. Each time a fight broke out in her clan, she would take the stone and gently touch the hide of each dragon and they would calm and the fight would end, it was just too much for her. She fled. Straight up into the stars, leaving behind the stone that she had once had so much faith in. The Lightweaver had been wrong, the dragons could not stop fighting. She understood it. They would suffer the same fate as the humans. As their own gods nearly had. They would destroy each other, or the Shade would destroy them all. Their only chance…lost for good because they could not let their bygones go. It was the last time the dragon priestess was ever seen.' _

_ I can only hope that as the years go on from here, someone finds this stone and the Lightweaver's wish is fulfilled. That the clans from all the nations come together and we finally stop warring among ourselves. We put far too much stock in what we can get for our own clans, taking care of only those that are in our immediate families instead of helping the community as a whole. This is no way to live. I must close for now, but I will continue this train of thought the next chance I get._

Lixian looked over the paper a few times before handing it back to Cahaya. They were looking for a stone that held some sort of power over dragons. From the journal entry, it sounded like the Dragon Star had the power to heal emotional wounds. Of course it would be something highly sought after by a Temple of the Lightweaver. He wondered why the Goddess never mentioned the stone to Inseza during their communications. It was as if she had blocked the memory herself.

"I think I understand now. This is a very important relic. I will do my best to make sure my clan helps you to find it as quickly as is possible. Sunara will know of this as soon as she returns from the Nesting Grounds."

* * *

Sunara flew down to the nesting grounds to see the two dragons that were looking to breed. She had known Simara for a long time.

"Good afternoon." She landed in the nesting grounds, her head raised as high as she could so she would appear more noble than she actually was. "I see you two have put in a request for nesting?"

"Ah, yes." Simara was flustered before they had even actually asked Sunara for her blessing on their pairing. "I hope we meet whatever it is you use to decide if a pair should breed or not." Much like the rest of the clan, they were going to form a permanent pair-bond.

"Don't worry, Simara. I think you will make beautiful offspring together and I approve of it. I give you my blessing." Sunara smiled and walked to the next nests. The Pearlcatcher and Wildclaw were one of five nest laid that day. They were filling their den with many new hatchlings that could one day go off and do great things. The Mirror dragon was proud of her clan. They were quite prosperous.

She headed back to the main den and to find Kojiki. Sunara would have to tell her about the nesting so she could put it in the clan records. She only almost missed the flutter of pink striped wings as the dragon moved among the stacks of Owlcat Journals. She had both of the colors, brown and black leather. She was buried deeply within her little den. One would know that she was there by the steady scratching of the pen across the parchment as she kept the clan's records. Sunara saw a little flick of pale yellow out of the corner of her eye. She had been spotted.

The Coatl peeked over the teetering mound of volumes. The largest book she owned, a huge light brown one with a faintly glowing Wind sigil on the cover, was set propped open on some stones. She put down her quill and stepped around the piles, moving nearly as serpentine like as a Spiral dragon would. Sunara had no idea how she wasn't knocking everything over in the process.

"Ma'am?"

"Huh?"

"You did come in here, correct?" She narrowed her eyes. "I assume that means you need something."

"Oh. Yes. That's right." She had been so distracted by her graceful movement that she had managed to forget to actually tell her the news. "I came to let you know you had new information for your book. Islian and Simara have nested. I believe you keep the clan's genealogies?"

"Yes. That's true."

"Then you should want to know that Islian and Simara are a pair now.. They've already gotten approval from the clan." Sunara watched her. "For the records."

"Thank you, ma'am. I will mark it down right away." She turned and made her way back to the largest tome, turning to a page earlier in the book to make sure she penned down the information. Kojiki smiled to herself. She had been watching them and thought they would make a fantastic couple. "They should make beautiful dragonlings together."

"I know. They do make quite the nice couple. I am surprised it took them as long as it did for them to decide to pair up." She picked up one of the brown journals and looked at the art she had done on the cover. "Oh, have you marked down Vasari and Feliar for later? They want to mate as well, but Vasari's not quite old enough from what I've gathered."

"I have a notice on my board about it. These sharpened bones are great for pinning notes up. Remind me to thank the dragon who had the good sense to save all of those fish skeletons." She motioned to a cup filled with the pointed ribs from fish. "I also have to remember to thank Lierri for finding this wood for me. It works well for my style."

"Wasn't that Agrios?"

"Possibly. I don't remember."

"Of course." She smiled and turned back out of the cavern. She made her way up the den she shared with Lixian and curled up in the grass. She'd worn herself out completely. She was excited to see the festival the next day. It was supposed to be the best one yet. Haegol had been put in charge of everything and she was looking forward to seeing what the Imperial had come up with.


	3. Chapter 3

_A/N: I would just like to take a moment and thank everyone that is reading this. Creative criticism is still looked for. :) Please read and review~_

**Chapter 3**

Cahaya shifted her wings against her back. It was nice to not fly for a while. She'd been flying for so long that she was beginning to think she'd never feel the ground beneath her paws again. She looked around the Nifari's surroundings. Dragons were everywhere, performing a myriad of tasks. She could see a Spiral, an Imperial, and a Snapper from here. It looked like they were working out some sort of commerce deal while not far off a Guardian and a Skydancer male were attempting to help a Fae learn to fight. This place was amazing. No two of these dragons were from the same flights that she could tell. Yet, they got along.

"Like what you see?"

"Huh?" She turned, and found herself face to face with a female Guardian. She had beautiful silver scales that shimmered in the sunlight. It looked like she'd come from the Dragonhome. "Are you...are you hitting on me?"

"Oh Earthshaker, no. I didn't mean it that way! I meant do you like the clan."

"Ah, yes. I do. I came at a good time. The Mistral Jamboree has just started, and this is my first Wind Festival. I'm glad I'm actually spending it with a Wind clan. You look like an Earth dragon though..."

"That I am." She sat on her haunches and extended her forepaw. "Name's Alleya."

"It's nice to meet you. I'm Cahaya."

"I heard yesterday. I was in the den next door."

"Why were you there?"

"Getting a job as a nest Guard."

"Oh that's interesting. I hope you land the job. Do you spend time in the rocky area outside the steppes as an Earth dragon?"

"I think I do. I spend a lot of time in the sandy areas by the edge of the Steppes. Buzhan, Gonglu, Critio, Shihai, Kaluna, and I go down now and then to commune with the Earthshaker. It's a lot of fun walking the spirals and listening to the gentle rhythms of the earth."

"Even though you're a member of a Wind clan?" Cahaya didn't understand. Why would dragons in a Wind clan go talk to a god that wasn't the one of their lair? It made no sense to her.

"Huh? Lixian lets all of the dragons talk to their own gods. No matter what clan their from. It's fun sometimes to follow Imissa, Khaola, Adrama, Khrysa, Repora, Valvao, and Girami. They're all Plague dragons and sometimes they take rats to the border with them so they can sacrifice them to the Plaguebringer. It's kind of gross, but fascinating at the same time. I think the rats are to get Her to keep the Wandering Contagion on Her side of the border, you know?"

"No...I'm afraid I don't. All of the dragons in my home clan had to send their prayers to the Lightweaver. We weren't permitted to send them elsewhere. Yours is the most unusual clan I have ever come across. I've never even heard of dragons not worshiping the god of the clan they live with." She didn't understand. It had never occurred to her to have dragons in a clan be allowed to have their own gods.

"Really? Wow. I thought everyone had clan leaders like Lixian." She blinked, tilting her head. "You mean you are forced to pray to the god of your country, and not to the god of your birth?"

"Not that it matters to me, my country and the god of my birth are the same god..." She laughed, motioning to her yellow eyes. She had been born in the Ruins and would naturally have had the Lightweaver as a god regardless. "There were a few dragons in my clan that were not Light. They were Water, Nature, and Earth, but our clan leader made them pray to Lightweaver instead of their own gods."

"That's just unfair. Even though they wouldn't be able to hear the gentle whispers of the Lightweaver on the sunbeams? How is that fair to the other dragons. They need to worship their gods not just your own. I know that eventually any who pass will go to the god of the land, but still. They should be at least given the option."

"That's very sweet of you to say." Cahaya grinned. "Do you know this clan well enough to give me a tour?"

"I came here when I was only a day old, and I'm a year old now so yeah. I know them pretty well. Let's head to the Beastkeeper first. I assume that since you're staying, you'll be taking on one of our Familiars for companionship." Alleya turned and made her way over to Critio's den. A lot of Familiars were running around in the pens and playing with each other. Though a Masked Harpy was sitting on a rock ledge, watching the others. Her sharp avian eyes keeping track of everything the others were doing.

"I like that one." Cahaya motioned to the Harpy. "She reminds me of a sentinel."

"I think you and she would make a fine match."

"Hello, ladies." Critio walked over and opened the gate for them to come in. "Can I help you with something today?"

"Yes. I am looking for a Familiar, and I believe I will be taking that Masked Harpy if she is not already spoken for." She smiled.

Critio got her down from the ledge she'd set herself up on and introduced her to Cahaya, "She is now. The only Familiar that is in here that's spoken for is the Marbled Jester. I'm glad someone's come to claim her. I didn't think anybody would want such a stoic Harpy as a Familiar."

Cahaya just smiled and took the Harpy from him. She would need a den of her own for the Harpy to be able to live in, but she figured that wouldn't be too big of a problem. The Imperial let the Harpy sit on her back as they walked out from the corral. She walked with Alleya down to the three she had seen earlier, their training having stopped for the day.

"This is Rhethi, Gonglu, and Sathui." Alleya waved to them as they made their way into the training fields. "Good morning, boys. Gonglu came from my own home clan. He came here a little bit before I did."

Gonglu blushed and hobbled over to her. His wings weren't particularly good for flying, but he was great at defensive attacks for his two teammates.

"Nice to meet you." She bowed her head. He had a strong countenance that she really liked. If Cahaya didn't know herself any better, she would have thought herself falling in love with him. She hardly knew him though. It wouldn't have been right for her to fall in love with a dragon that she'd never actually met before. "Who's this one?"

"Oh, that's Sathui. He was born down in the Frigid Floes and came up with some of our other dragons who'd been out exploring." Sathui had heard them and turned his head away with a snort.

"See. Not exactly the most…._friendly_ of dragons in the clan. He does his job well though." The Guardian shrugged her massive shoulders. It wasn't the first time someone from their clan got that sort of response from Sathui. "Come on, I'll take you down to where the hatchlings play. I've been away for a while, so I don't know if we have any right now."

"I can still go down to see where they are and meet the dragons that take care of them?"

"I suppose we could go." She walked down the path that wove through their home toward the clan's playground and daycare. Much to the surprise of the larger dragon, there was one little hatchling running around playing. She hadn't realized that there was a nest hatching soon. Had it really already been six days since the last nest was laid?

The hatchling shouted when he saw her and ran off toward his caretaker. He whimpered and hid behind her broad shoulders. Aerena didn't know what was scaring him so much. She looked around the den trying to find out what what was going on with Caeron. There was nothing that struck her as being out of the ordinary, except for the dragon standing beside Alleya. She'd seen the newcomer earlier and wondered if that was the cause of their alarm. She nuzzled the hatchling.

"Are you alright, darling?" She tilted her head. The hatchling snuggled her back and cowered behind her wing. The Snapper didn't understand what was going on with the kid. She would have to ask Arrash if he had anything to say about this dragon. She knew he'd been having terrible headaches the last few days, which usually preceded a vision. Cynran had been doing what he could for their friend, but right now all they could do was wait. "I will talk to your father."

The chick whimpered and fled back to the comfort of the Wildclaw who worked with them. She did not like the Imperial in their midst. He didn't like the large dragon and didn't want anything to do with her.

"Is everything okay?"

"Ah. Arrash. Just the derg I needed to see."

"Oh?" He looked at the Imperial and his eyes glazed over before glowing bright cerulean. "_Beware the one who comes for the star. The land will be ripped asunder beneath the paws of she who looks for the light. She will be the death of nations. Hide your gold and gems from those who would seek her, for they will take all. Gems, gold, life._"

"Arrash?"

"Hmm?"

"Are you okay?"

"Yes, well, no. My headache's gotten worse." He wobbled on his feet for a second and turned to them. "Oh. Hello. I don't think we've met. I'm Arrash, clan Prophet. I wish I could stay and talk to you more, but I must be off to the healer."

He turned and took to the sky, flying to the healer's den and out of their sight. He had never had anything like that happen to him before, and he had no idea what it mean. It was much stronger than any of the visions he'd ever had. The Imperial dragon couldn't even remember this one. Normally he knew what it was he'd said, mostly pertaining to the weather, but never had he completely blacked out. He was worried about what it was he had actually said and hoped that when he returned, one of the girls would tell him.

The female dragons looked at each other and sighed. They had no idea what had just gone on. Aerena turned her back on the two others and tried to settle her wards. Arrash had never once had a vision and completely forgotten it within seconds like that. Something was obviously very wrong.

"Perhaps it is best that you both leave. You are upsetting the hatchling." Aerena turned, shielding the young Mirror with her wings. "I do not want to have to call Rhethi or Gonglu down to have you removed."

"Right. See you later." Alleya led the way down a smaller path between the nursery and the play area. They walked down until they had reached a little sectioned off area with four nests tucked into the reeds. All five of the nests were in use. "This is where the dragons who are nesting come together. It takes about six days between when a dragon lays her eggs an they hatch. It looks like all of the nests currently in use are...Dear Earthshaker, I'm so sorry. I didn't even see you there!"

"Oh that's fine, Alleya. I am small for a Coatl after all." Kalayo laughed. He stretched his neck up from the egg he was guarding. "I take it that this is Cahaya? It's nice to meet you. Elder Kalayo, representative of the Fire Flight in the Nifari Clan Council. I was one of the seven who voted to have you stay with us."

"That was nice of you, sir." She blushed softly.

"You're so much nicer than the rest of the Imperials. Most of them are off in the Seers Den mumbling to themselves or attending to clan duties."

"You have quite the wide selection of dragons here in your clan."

"Our clan now." He winked. Alleya tried to stifle her chuckle at Kalayo's antics. He wasn't like other Coatls either. From what she's gathered own at the library, Coatl dragons were supposed to be these overly social beings. Nearly without mind to what they were doing. The fact that he was quite possibly the least sociable of the dragons in the clan really confused her. As far as she knew, he rarely spoke unless directly spoken to.

"We should probably head out now. Lot's of the lair to see yet before evening meal."

"Of course. Have a nice time."

"Good-bye." She backed out of the nesting grounds, not having enough room to turn around. Alleya thought of the other places she could take Cahaya to see. Then it dawned on her. If she was looking for something that the clan might have had, then going to see Lierri would be the best idea yet. The Vaultkeeper would be sure to tell them if they had anything even remotely matching the goods she was looking for. "Come on. I know where we're going next. The Vault. Then we can take the path that leads out to see Rehael's lair. He lives with the part of our clan that's out in the Ashfall Wastes."

"What do you mean by the 'part of your clan' out in the Wastes?"

"I mean exactly what I said. The three lairs...Lixian's, Silina's, and Rehael's. We have a bond between us and all three of them are counted as one large clan that just happen to live in three different countries." She walked down the gravel path to the Vault. "Silina's part of our clan has 35 dragons and Rehael's has 39. Ours is the biggest with 92."

"So you have one great clan with 166 dragons in it?"

"Yep."

"That's….interesting. I've never heard of clans working together like that."

"Really? That's all I've ever known."

"I like that. I'd like to get to know the other two lairs that make up your giant clan." Cahaya laughed. She wanted to meet them all. It was the first time she'd been hearing about dragons who would technically be part of the clan, but who didn't live there with them. She was interested in seeing everything Alleya chose to show.

"Come on, we should go see Lierri first and see if there's anything you want from the hoard." She laughed and walked along a little bit faster. Cahaya was thankful for her long legs so she could keep up. There was so much about the world outside of the Ruins that she didn't know. She would have to send a letter home and tell them about this wonderful new idea of having multiple connected clans across more than one territory.

She followed behind the dragon she considered to be her new friend, and over to the Vaultkeeper's den. It was a large alcove set right into the side of the clan's hoard. She caught a flash of what looked like gold moving around in the den. _What was that? Do they have a Golden Idol looking after their hoard? Why would they do that?_

She gasped when the golden mound turned and she was looking into the emerald green eyes of a Snapper. Cahaya hadn't been expecting that and was rightly startled.

"Good afternoon ladies. Can I help you with something?" He smiled and shuffled some barrels of fish behind him, making room for the new Owlcat journals they'd gotten in. "Sorry if it looks like I'm ignoring you, I'm not I promise. Its just that Agrios and Valvao both brought back stuff and I have to sort it. Ermini is stopping by later to take anything extra that we don't need back to Isatama from our Vault."

"Ermini? Isatama?"

"Oh, yes. Sorry. Ermini is the Vaultkeeper for our sister clan, Isatama. They're the clan from the Ashfall Wastes. There's also Tasare from Yeahunu. The three clans work together. We hope one day to have clans join us from the other eight territories to open up valuable trading and knowledge routes." Lierri smiled and waddled toward them. The piles were sorted out for the other dragons to have a look through. He shifted his sky colored wings and waited. "Is there anything I can do for you?"

"We're just browsing today. Could you let me know if Tasare comes by?"

"Of course."

"Excuse me," Rhethi walked up to the Vault. "Do you know where Cairen went? I have a package I need delivered to my daughter." He put the box down. "Oeidis had the beginning of a set in ebony, and we had a spare."

"That was sweet of her to trade you." Lierri put the box off to the side. "Cairen was taking some trinkets elsewhere and should back shortly."

Rhethi nodded and walked back over to the training area. He, Gonglu and Sathui were heading out to the Sandswept Delta to train. They were glad for the training that they had. "Gonglu. Sathui. Come on, we need to head out to the Delta. We've just made rank ten. We need to keep going. Remember, we promised Xinpei that we would get there as soon as we can." His large tail swayed as he walked the trail toward beaches. Cahaya watched him go. The entire clan seemed to be made of the most beautiful or powerful of dragons.

"Do you have many dragons that high?"

"They're the only three dragons in the clan to be on that level. The only dragon higher than them is Callia. She came to us at the highest level of thirteen." Alleya smiled. "The rest of us are somewhere between one and seven."

"Oh. Where to next?"

"I don't know...out to the farms?"

"You have farms?"

"Yes. Three of them. There's one here, run by Kogane, Zakura, and Haegol. Mostly we get grass and bugs. There's one out in the Ember Hearth run by Araxie that has meat, and one out in the Tsunami Flats run by Ciaran that deals with the fish the clans need. We then just send whatever resources the clan needs out to them."

Cahaya was impressed. They had really taken this to a new level. These three clans had basically taught themselves how to work harmoniously with themselves and nature to keep them all fed and happy. She had no idea how they had managed it, but it was definitely something she would take back to her own clan when, or if, she left. She was beginning to really like it here. They made their way down to the main den where the food was prepared.

"Welcome! Merry Jamboree!" Haegol grinned and handed Cahaya some of the grasses that they had built up in the clan. "I hope you like it here."

"I bet I will." She smiled and made sure she had enough food for herself. "Is it always this crowded here?"

"Only during a Festival. It's normally a pretty quiet place. I think everyone's super excited because it's the Wind festival and we're a Wind clan." He ate beside her, grinning. It wasn't his first Festival and he was more than excited to participate. They had all heard stories from Kojiki about it. She was experiencing it for the first time herself, but there were records that she had access to that told tales of the great Festivals of the past. There were a lot of things that happened during the Jamborees before that he was hoping were going to happen now. "Have you ever celebrated a Festival before?"

"Yes. I've celebrated a few of them. I am two years old, so I do have experience with Festivals." She grinned at him. "I'm excited to celebrate with you." She couldn't believe that she had been fortunate enough to have such a good place to rest before resuming her journey to find the sacred piece of citrine that her clan leader was looking for.

The Mebirati clan had been hunting for the stone for months and had not been able to find it. They only knew of the stone from a rough painting they had found on the walls of one of the old buildings. It depicted what looked like an Imperial dragon moving up to the stars, a single large stone falling from her wings as she moved. In the image they had used a piece of citrine embedded to represent the stone that had been lost. They had had many rumors about what it was.

Cahaya lost herself in thought about the stone, wondering why something so important could be so easily lost. _It must have been accidentally shuffled into one of __Taxine's__ outgoing parcels for the merchants. It happens. I can send a message back to the clan and see what they have to say. _

She smiled and took her leave of the other dragons still feasting. She wanted to get her letter written and out in time for the next post. Cahaya settled down and smiled to herself. It had been a long while since she had last spoken to anybody from her home clan.

_Dearest Avelen,_

_ It has been quite a long while since I have seen you last. I hope you are all doing well in Mebirati. Things have been well here. I am being inducted to Nifari clan as I am writing this. They treat me as though I am already one of their members, despite only being a visitor to their clan. You wee right about the Wind Flight being a very welcoming place._

_ I had a question for you. I know that you are not usually at home with the clan, but are out flying the Ruins. I wonder if on your next stop in, most likely when you are reading this note, you will go and ask Taxine if she has seen a large stone pass through the Vault recently? I am searching here for it and have already been through the Sea, but I cannot seem to find even a trace of it. The best I can do is that the dragons in the market saw a purple Imperial with what looked like our stone that we are missing. _

_ Somehow, I feel like I should also let you know how I am doing. It has been a long trek to get here. When I first arrived I was so exhausted that I fainted right at the gates to the lair! They treated me immediately with the utmost care in the world. I have never felt more grateful for the call of their leader in allowing the dragons to all worship their individual gods. Their healer and apothecary both pray solely to the Gladekeeper and that benefits their work for the clan. I think it's extremely beneficial to them to have this arrangement. _

_ I have met a number of interesting dragons while I have been recuperating with them. My most favorite of new friends is a female Guardian named Alleya. She has the most fascinating inability to keep anything to herself. I''m confident that she has a very large infatuation for a Guardian named Tasare. He's from another clan that works with the Nifari. There are two, the Isatama clan from the Emberglow Hearth and the Yeahunu from Fishspine Reef. I cannot wait to share more with you. Let me know the second you get this letter. _

_Yours Always,_

_Cahaya_

She sealed the letter up as quickly as she could and flew down to the center of the lair, where Cairen was just gearing up to head out. Cahaya handed the letter to him and smiled.

"This is going to Avelen in the Mebirati clan. They are in the Sunbeam Ruins. If you could please hurry with the note, that would make me very happy."

"I'll do my best." Cairen tucked the letter into his satchel and took to the skies, heading for the Light domain. He would move as fast as his wings could carry him. If only he could remember where the Mebirati actually was in the Ruins. That would have been very helpful.

Cahaya watched him become nothing more than a speck in the sky and turned back to the den. She could hardly believe that she had been so welcomed into this huge clan like she was. There were dragons for everything. She wished she wouldn't have to eventually leave them. Cahaya steeled herself for the day. She could tell she was getting closer to the stone.


	4. Chapter 4

_A/N: I want to thank the few people who have read this, but I would like to stress again that you please leave me a comment/review. I won't know if there's anything that ought to be fixed or borne in mind for the next chapter unless you do~ Remember: Read and Review!_

**Chapter 4**

The entire clan was up at the crack of dawn. It was highly unusual for many of them to be awake before noon on any given day, marking this event as something worth remembering. They gathered at the central cairn and raised their paws in reverence to the Windsinger. It was the first day of the Festival and it would begin with a huge parade through the lair. The entire thing had been organized by Haegol, a natural Wind dragon.

"Wow, Haegol, you did a great job getting the event organized for the year. I see we have a Windsinger costume for the parade?"

"Yes. I asked the clan Spirals if they could help put together a large Windsinger to lead the parade. Of course Taloni is out in front as the head." He grinned. He was immensely proud of the dragons for their contributions to the parade. "I am so happy it turned out well."

"As am I," Sunara adjusted her wings and looked out over the small crowd. "It seems as if everyone is enjoying the parade."

"Thank you." He bowed. Haegol was glad they liked it. "Wait until the end. It will be worth it."

She didn't know what he'd meant, but she went along with it, enjoying the parade as it circuited through the different dens that their clan had and out into the pastures. She watched as the Windsinger costume lifted up into the air. It started weaving itself in circles and something was stepping out. Wisps of pale green vapor held tightly as a Familiar worked its way free from the costume as it touched the ground.

"This is our clan's elemental festival." Taloni said, smiling. "This is a time to celebrate the telling of stories and of sharing lore with one another. We come together to celebrate the birth of the Windsinger's chosen Flight and to once more solidify our bonds with one another.

"As we all know, the Windsinger was at first not a peaceful dragon. He warred with His siblings, fighting over territory. At some point He came to the conclusion that fighting was not a good way to solve our problems. Talking is. Sharing with each other our own histories and learning from on another. With that in mind, let us create new stories to share with our future generations. Beginning with our clan's newest festival familiar, an Aerborne Ambassador, emissary to the Windsinger! With the unveiling of the familiar, let the festivities…..BEGIN!"

She flew off to the first of the feasts for the festival. A great meal being held in the field next to the one they were all gathered in. It was clan tradition for the Elder representing that Flight to eat first at any ceremony, and everyone watched as Taloni took her first bite of meat. They filed in one at a time after that and got their dishes from the piles. Everyone ate, drank, and shared stories of their childhoods with one another. Everyone shared stories with the hatchlings. Especially those who had not grown up with the Nifari. The Mistral Jamboree was a time of story-telling and enjoying oneself.

Lixian sat down beside Taloni, "Happy Jamboree to you, fellow Spiral."

"Happy Jamboree." She smiled at him and offered a piece of the meat she had. Lixian graciously accepted from his Elder. He immediately at the offered piece of meat as a sign of respect, bowing his head slightly to the Elder. "I assume you are enjoying the celebratory first feast?"

"It's great. How are you enjoying it?"

"It is more than I could have hoped for. Haegol really pulled it off." She had been surprised a farming dragon could manage something to such a great scale. He had really shown his Wind clan pride that day. "I'm glad that we have so many dragons that are here celebrating a festival like this one with us. I can't wait for the blind race later."

"Blind race?"

"Mhm. What will happen is that there will be teams of two. One dragon is going to be blindfolded and the other will have to lead the first to the finish line using only simple commands. Such as 'turn left now' or 'take three steps to your right' and what have you." She smiled. "The first dragon to be successfully lead to the finish line will receive a large sum of gold and gems."

* * *

The dragons gathered in the large southern field. It was usually used to corral the Familiars, but today Critio had put them all in the northern side. The entire southern section was arranged into an obstacle course. They were about to start their blind race. Haegol would be the dragon moderating the race itself. The clan's Elders all sat in their traditional judges seats and watched the rest of the clan get ready.

The pairs were all made, each one deciding who would be blinded and who would lead. Once ready, Haegol read off the pairings. They had tied the blindfolds to their respective partners before bringing them out and getting them set up on the starting line.

"We have our groups. Lixian leading Sunara, Agrios leading Valvao, Lierri leading Aerena…." He went through entire clan until he reached the end, trying to stifle his snort of laughter. "And Islian leading Simara. Remember the rules, ladies and gentledragons. You can only give your partner simple commands! You cannot tell them what obstacle is directly in front of them! The leader cannot leave the square of grass marked off at the start line, you must stay with in the bounds and safely lead your partner across! Is there anything else the judges would like to add?"

"Remember, this is not about winning." Taloni said, standing up so they could all hear. "This is about having fun and building friendship and connections with your fellow dragons. On my count, three...two...one...GO!"

They shouted, leading their partners toward the finish. Several times collapsing into fits of laughter when one or more dragons would crash into an obstacle or another dragon. They had a hard time getting through some of the obstacles, but it was entirely worth it.

"It looks like Valvao's in the lead!" Haegol flew up above to watch them. "Now it's Sunara! If you don't hurry up back there you'll be left behind! Taking the lead from Sunara is...Simara?" They were all surprised. "And the winners are…..ISLIAN AND SIMARA!"

* * *

The Festival passed quickly, each dragon doing his or her part to keep the celebration going. Cahaya had never had so much fun in her life. Not even on her own hatching day when her clan had had a party just for her and her siblings. It was her most favorite memory now compared to this one. Cahaya had never thought she would be with a clan celebrating a holiday so beautifully. Each day of the week long Mistral Jamboree had come packed with games and feasts dedicated to the Windsinger.

She stumbled back to the den they had given to her to stay in and collapsed onto the straw completely breathless. They had been flying relay races for the god today and she was still not as fast a flier as most of the others in this clan. Her team had just barely not come in last place. The clan that had come in last had Diovan on their team. He was the Bogsneak in charge of the scouting and not exactly gifted with flight. She had nearly lost for her team watching him fly. His small wings beating like that of a hummingbird as he moved as quickly as he could toward the next flier in their team. She fell for him almost immediately.

"'Scuse me, is this Cahaya's den?" She rolled and saw the vague outline of a Bogsneak in the entry. "I just wanted to come and say good game. I didn't see you after we finished."

"Diovan?"

"Yeah. That's me." He stayed by the cavern's entrance.

"Please, come in. Sit and catch your breath."

"Thanks."

"Of course. It was fun racing today. I've never seen so many events planned around a particular Flight." She rested back on her pile of soft grasses. "You did pretty well yourself. What made you want to fly in a relay race?"

"I want to 'earn my feathers' as they say." Diovan smiled, "I also came to ask you something…"

"Oh?"

"I wanted to know...if you would be like to have a clutch with me?"

"I would be honored." Cahaya didn't have the heart to tell him that she wasn't sure if she was going to stay or not. Her own clan was expecting her to come back to them with the stone once she'd found it. She didn't want to upset Diovan by promising herself to him as a nest partner and then turning around and leaving the clan for good. "We should go down to the main den and talk to Arrash about a nest."

"Naturally." Diovan lead the way down to the den and coughed slightly so that they would know he was there. He could hardly believe that he was going to have a clutch with such a beautiful Imperial. She had to be the most beautiful one he'd ever seen.

"Hard to believe the Jamboree ends tomorrow, huh?" She smiled as they waited for Arrash to come out and assess their compatibility. It was difficult to comprehend that the clan would be winding down from the Festivities in just a few hours.

They both stood at the entryway to Arrash's den. It was an exciting time to be a Nifari dragon. So many other dragons were breeding and their clan had gotten wonderfully large. Diovan nuzzled her cheek and watched the other dragons flying around, just doing daily activities for their clan.

"Can I help you?" Annath stood at the doorway and smiled. She perched on the ledge carved into the cliff face. Her dark blue eyes studied them acutely. The way they were looking at each other was obvious. "You wish to know if you are compatible as a breeding pair for a nest."

"Ah, yes." Diovan smiled at the Imperial before them. She was one of the clan's seers, and gifted with prophecy almost as well as Arrash was, she just didn't get the headache's he did. He swallowed thickly as Annath came down and circled them, studying them presumably to decide if they would be good together. Her eyes took on the characteristic faint glow of a dragon communing with their deity before she nodded.

"You will do well together. I suspect a clutch of three eggs." Annath went back into the den.

* * *

Lixian watched his clan from atop one of the ridges. They were settling in to new life up in the Twisting Crescendo. They had been living in the Reedcliff Ascent for many weeks and eventually just grew too large to be accommodated by the land any more. They had to take the nearest open lair space in the Crescendo. He realized that if they kept expanding the way they were, they'd soon have to move up to Cloudsong. He smiled to himself, and flew down to the ledge his clan was living on.

"Good morning, sir." A large male Guardian said from the mouth of the forge den. He was shaking soot off of his scales and laughing. He picked the flaked ashes from behind his horns and lay down in the sun.

"Good morning, Khouri. What happened? Did your forge blow or something?" He sat beside Khouri and looked him over.

He shook his massive head and blinked the soot from his eyes. "No, Saitai decided to clean the flue and I happened to be on the decidedly wrong end of the chimney at the time. Took soot and ash to the face. I'll be fine after a quick swim at the shore."

"As long as you're okay..."

"Yeah. I'm fine."

Lixian grinned and walked into the den to see it was in fact covered in soot. He looked around, curious what new items the clan's mechanics have come up with. He found the Ultramarine Spiral standing at the bellows, using his wings to clear out the soot. Saitai flipped his goggles back down and loaded Driftwood Logs into the pit to get them started.

"Hey Lixian."

"Saitai."

"You need something?"

"No, I just wanted to see how you were fairing. I saw Khouri outside. He's near black with the soot you sent up."

"What?"

"Apparently he was on the other side of the chimney stack when you cleared the flue." He moved out of the way of the large anvil used for creating the armor. "How goes the armorsmithing?"

"It goes as well as can be expected in a clan that doesn't really wear armor." Saitai shrugged. He was one of the few Spiral who had never really showed that normal hyperactivity of Spiral dragon. "We finished the breastplate and that was the last piece of armor we needed. I suppose we can start working on some simple rivets and clasps for the jewelers and designers."

"I think Imissa was just asking for a few metal rings to make something. I don't know what." He smiled again. "I think I will go for now. Perhaps I'll come down again later."

"Alright, sir." Saitai turned to go back into the den and then stopped. "Wait, sir, I think Valvao was looking for you earlier. She didn't say for what, just that she wanted to talk to you. I think you should head down to the Scavenger's den and have a chat with her."

* * *

_ Cahaya looked into the light. She had to find it. The stone was vital to the health and safety of Mebirati, her clan. They could not be without it. She made her way across the Ruins, asking every dragon she came across if they had seen it or had any word of its location. _

_ "No, miss. I'm sorry, but we here in Shanyao haven't seen or heard anything about a stone." An older Honey Giraffe Imperial said. He did look genuinely apologetic. "I wish we could help you."_

_ "Thank you. I appreciate it. I suppose I will have to go outside of the Ruins to look for the stone."_

_ "Best of luck my friend." The Imperial flew off to take care of his clan. He wished his fellow Imperial all of the luck their Lady saw fit to grant her. _

_Cahaya took to the sky, her crystalline wings beating out a quick rhythm. She had no time to waste. She flew first to the Shifting Expanse, home of the Stormcatcher and the Lightning Flight. Being a Light dragon, she was weak to lightning and had to be careful crossing through. She would have the Mebirati send an Earth dragon, immune to lightning, to the Expanse. It was too big a risk here._

_ She didn't pause, heading straight to the Flamecaller's domain. Her hardened Crystal scales actually helped her withstand the heat from the volcanoes spread across the Fire Flight's country. For the briefest moment, Cahaya allowed herself to enjoy the scenery, landing on what appeared to be simple hardened earth. _

_ A monstrous Ridgeback landed before her. She hadn't seen it coming and it scared her. _

_ "Who are you? What do you want in the Isatama clan's land?" He watched her with his vibrant purple eyes. Cahaya panicked and nearly growled. "Whoa stranger. We are not like the other Fire clans you may have heard of, the ones that are nearer to a border with the Shifting Expanse. We in the Isatama, and Yinedali, are actually a rather friendly sort. You'll likely have noticed by now that I'm not even a Fire dragon. I am from the Tangled Wood myself. Born to a Shadow-nest." _

_ "Um, I did notice that..." She took a cautious step backward. "Where is the leader of the Isatama clan?"_

_ "That would be me." He motioned to himself with a claw. "Name's Rehael. I took over when our last leader, Flamecaller rest his soul, passed on to the next realm." _

_ Cahaya smiled a little. She liked the way he talked. He was still scaring her, but he was at least a little more friendly than he had been earlier. She took a deep breath, willing herself to calm down. It wasn't every day you ran into a Shadow-born Ridgeback running a Fire clan. She shook the thought from her head. Now was certainly not the time. She had to focus. She stretched her wings out to ease the tension in them and folded them back against her sides._

_ "Perhaps you can help me then. I'm looking for something and I don't know where to find it." Cahaya hoped there wouldn't be much searching after this. She was tired and needed a break. "It's a stone. About the size of an Imperial's heart. It's a deep, amber yellow. I have been looking for it everywhere and cannot seem to find it."_

_ "Hmm...come with me. We can ask Regosa or Ximena if they have seen it. They are our Merchant and Vaultkeeper respectively. This way." He lead her into a deeper part of the clan's lair in the Molten Scar. Cahaya could feel the heat coming from the various crags of lava in the Wastes. It amazed her that any dragons could possibly find this comfortable. She wished she were back home in the comfort of her sunlit patio. "Just around this corner. We'll find them together I think, going over the clan's sales for the week." _

_ Just as he'd thought, the two dragons were engaged in a discussion over a pile of what looked from the distance to be chicken eggs. Upon closer inspection, it was discovered they were Banded Ironstone pieces. They were just pale. _

_ "I'm telling you Ximena, they aren't worth two gems a piece. I've seen them. I am the Merchant here. You'll get one gem for them and no more. There were dragons selling five and eight of them at a clip and they were sitting. You'd be best off selling the five we have for three or four gems along with some other things if you want to have any hope of turning a profit from today's sales. No one wants stuff like they used to." _

_ "I'll say it again. I don't care what the market price is. I want two gems for each of these Ironstones. No less. You hear?" _

_ "Excuse me?" Cahaya couldn't help but interject at this point. "Regosa, I assume, is correct. Ironstone only sells for one gem. If you want an expensive stone to have, you'd need to find Banded Sardonyx. That is currently going for fifteen gems a piece." _

_ "Really?" Regosa laughed. "I told you! I told you, Ximena! You're not getting more than a gem each!" _

_ "Fine. But I sell the Smoky Quartz for 4500 gems." _

_ "Do we even have Smoky Quartz?" Regosa blinked. "You've gone off your rocker, Ximena. We don't have Smoky Quartz in the hoard." _

_ Rehael rolled his eyes at the Nocturne and Ridgeback. They always fought over the stuff in the clan's vaults, "Anyway, what are you doing here in Isatama?" _

_ "I'm looking for a stone. I don't know if you've heard of it or not. We call it the Dragon Star." She looked up hopefully. It was becoming more and more hopeless for her to even consider looking for the stone. Cahaya had no idea what she was supposed to do if she didn't find it. "It's about the size of an Imperial's heart and bright yellow like my scales." _

_ Ximena went to the clan logs to look and see if anything of the sort had been brought through, "No, I can't say anything on here is matching that...I'll let you know if we get it in though." _

_ "Thank you. I believe I will be heading on to the next place now. Out in the Plateau." Cahaya bowed her head slightly._

_ "A clan in the Plateau? We know of one. If it's the same one, we'd be happy to take you out later today when we go to deliver their goods they purchased." _

_ "Thank you! That sounds wonderful." She went and lay down, figuring a rest would be the best thing she could do right now. It wasn't long before she was asleep._

She jerked awake, yellow eyes blinking slowly as she adjusted to the lack of light in the den. Cahaya turned her head and looked at her mate, Diovan, sleeping soundly in his pile of straw. It had been a while since she'd dreamed so vividly. She could still almost feel the heat from the volcanic vents on her scales. The golden yellow Imperial yawned and lay her head back down. That had been wild.


	5. Chapter 5

_A/N: Sorry about that gap. I got distracted with a few other projects that I was working on. I should be able to pay better attention and have the next installment out on 2019-10-26. Bear with me, I am easily pulled into other side projects and ideas that spring up in my head. This one will be put into the priority marker for this month. Please remember to leave me reviews! Please? Also let me know of mistakes. I don't have a beta reader for this at all and I can only catch mistakes after I post the story for some reason. _

**Chapter 5**

Abelus's eyes clouded over. Her entire body went rigid as the voice of the Lightweaver penetrated her mind. She opened her mouth to deliver the prophecy, "_The time has come for all dragons across the lands to choose. Work together and defeat a great evil, or remain separate and succumb to the darkness. Beware the one who will travel to the land of the mighty gale and bring with her the peace of many nations._"

She blinked out of it and ran to tell Zamola of what she saw. Most of the details were fuzzy and misremembered. Abelus burst into her matriarch's den, out of breath. Her body heaved with her frantic attempt to draw breath.

"Ma'am! I-I have...urgent news!" She wheezed, nearly collapsing from exhaustion. "Lightweaver….dragon coming….darkness….. It's the stone from legend!"

"Are you sure about this, Abelus?"

"Absolutely!" She bowed her head to show respect for her leader as Zamola paced in circles. How could this have happened without their notice? The prophetess was never wrong in what she saw. They would have to stop this dragon before she found the stone and brought the Shade upon them all. This was very important.

"Find Svanus, Pirien and Siobha." She rounded on the young Imperial. "NOW!"

Abelus nearly jumped out of her hide, "Yes, ma'am!" She took off as quickly as her legs would take her down into the underbelly of the Zarazan clan's lair. She wondered offhand why Zamola didn't ask for Eilion, the Captain of the Guard for their clan. Not that it was her place to question the whims of her leader. Many thought that Zamola was touched by the Plaguebringer Herself, just mad enough to get the things done that were for the benefit of their clan and ruin of another. Others thought it was just her nature as a Mirror. Abelus didn't want to find out which side was correct.

* * *

Eilion returned to his post at the top of the ledge. It was another balmy night out on the Rim. The others were in some sort of meeting, and he wanted to go find out what they were talking about. It had to do with the Star. He just knew it did. Eilion thought that as Captain of the Guard, he of all should have gotten to actually be part of the meeting. _Pssh. I guess the best of the best is not good enough for Zamola. Serves her right for not asking me to join them. I will refuse if she sends me out to search for the stupid thing. I'd sooner stay here and guard the clan with my Nisona._ He hunched his shoulders and glared out across the desolate landscape.

"Eilion?" Svanus landed beside him on the stone, startling the Imperial out of his reverie.

"Yes, my lord?"

"I am sure you want to be in there with Zamola, Pirien and Siobha?"

"Perhaps."

"As it would seem, I have heard everything I need to. You may go in for a few minutes and I will stand guard in your place."

"My lord?"

"It's alright. I'm sure that nothing will have the bravery required to actually cross the Wasteland by night. Even the hardiest of the Beastclans won't cross it during the day unless they have to. They all fear Her." He turned his blood-red eyes toward the center of their territory, where the Wyrmwound, that large festering cauldron of slime stirred only by Her Ladyship, lay. "I understand their fear though, She does things on a whim. One never knows when they will be breathing their last in this harsh terrain."

"I know, sir."

"Go on."

"Of course." Eilion spread his wings and descended to the level their lair was on. The entire thing encased within the the Rotrock Rim. It was safer this way for his clan. They could not afford to lose members to the ravaging Mirror dragon hordes or the Beastclans that roamed the place during the day.

He made his way down the massive main tunnel toward the center of the lair where Zamola usually held her meetings. It was wide laced with deep putrid green pustules with a strange bio-luminescence. The glowing gave Eilion the chills. He tried to keep his large frame in the center of the tunnel to avoid touching the pustules. They had no idea what touching them would do. None were brave enough, except perhaps Vadria, but she was brave or stupid enough to try just about anything. Eilion entered the cavern and bowed his head to his clan leader. "You have requested my presence?"

"Yes. I have a mission I want Siobha to complete for me, but I want at least two other dragons to know about it."

"Pardon my misunderstanding here, Ma'am, but don't Pirien and Svanus know?" He was sure that it filled her quota to have one of the inner guards and the clan priest to know about this. Eilion pressed himself back as close to the wall as he could when she turned and snarled at him.

"I said _at least_ two. I wish for my Captain to know, in case I need you to go out on a mission that involves what I am about to task Siobha to do." She turned, holding a wind egg out to the sanguine Imperial. "I want you to take this Wind egg to the clan _she_ is in."

"What?"

"You heard me."

"May I ask why?"

"Because we need to plant a dragon."

"Would it not make more sense to use a Nature egg with that logic?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"You ask far too many questions. Because we are taking it to a _Wind_ clan. Why would I want to send a Nature egg into a Wind Flight? It has to be one of their kind to be more easily accepted."

"As you wish, Ma'am." She took the pale spring and jade egg and put it into a satchel lined with feathers. Avital had no idea what that was all about, but if his Leader wanted them to take it out to that clan, that's what they'd would do.

Zamola put her smaller paw on her shoulder to stop her from leaving, "I did not dismiss you yet.….I want you to actually understand the gravity of what we are experiencing. I know you understand that we are looking for a stone."

She nodded. That part was known among some of the dragons. She didn't know what it was for, since she had not been around when it was discovered or made or however it came about. Siobha turned back around in the cavern as best she could and sat to listen, cradling the egg. It was cool like a breeze between her forelegs. She saw Zamola pull a book, probably stolen from another clan, out of the niche on the wall and bring it over to them.

"Many years ago, dragons did not exist in the way they do now. Creatures who called themselves humans lived in this world. This is one of their books. Back then they would harness energy to use for their things. They called it electricity." She flipped the book open, showing them a picture of a reactor tower powering up the grid lines. "They had this belief that if you focused energy on a crystal long enough, they could imbue the same electrical current into the stone itself. Humans, in their infinite lack of wisdom, decided they would try this. Much to their surprise, it actually worked.

"The Dragon Star, as they called it because they had access to the legends about the Pillar of the World, was created and used to power their factories. Of course they had no idea of the power they were trying to wield, and overloaded their huge reactor. Everything was blown apart when Her Ladyship was born."

"What does that have to do with this egg?"

"I'm getting to that." Zamola snapped again, lashing out with her claws and just barely missing Siobha's face. She hated it when they would interrupt her. "Now then. It was said that this stone, the Dragon Star, made its way to the Lightweaver where it was cleansed of it's negativity. Personally, I do not believe this. I think that it's still as corrupt as it was before. It will bring ruin to the dragons of this world. We will all suffer because of the arrogance of humanity. We will use the dragon born from this egg as an agent to get into the clan. He or she will be our inside source and will get either the stone or that Imperial for us."

"Oh."

"Do you understand?"

"As well as I can, ma'am." She bowed her head and put the egg into satchel again. Siobha made sure the bag was situated in a way that would prevent the egg from dropping or being jumbled about. "Is there anything else I need to know before I leave?"

"While you are gone, Nisona will be taking your place guarding the Vault. I expect you won't be gone long?" She kept her eyes on her. "You are just crossing the boarder between our lands. They live right on the northwestern edge of the Plateau. You are to take the egg to them, tell them we found it, and then return here."

"Ma'am," Siobha nodded again and left the cave. She took off immediately, knowing the repercussions of not following orders as soon as they were given. There was a very good reason why she was the leader of the Zarazan clan.

"If I may," Eilion also bowed his head after Siobha had left. "How will the hatchling from this egg know what we wish it to do? It's not as if he or she can hear us talking about it. Someone will have to stay with the hatchling after it is born to actually inform it of its mission."

Zamola turned, tapping her chin with her claws, "I hadn't thought of that. Send a messenger after Siobha. She will have to stay there, I guess. The egg can be a gesture of good will."

"Ma'am." He nodded and left to send the clan's swiftest messenger behind her to tell her of the news. It had not been the most well thought out plan of their leader, but it would do. Dragons constantly moved around between clans out here, trying to find where they fit in the best. Especially with how close they were with several of the other Sorniethian countries.

* * *

Siobha watched as the deep red-brown of the Scarred Wasteland gave way to the pale frosty greens and yellows of the Windswept Plateau. She could hardly believe the change in temperatures alone. It went from the warmth she had grown up with to this cool breeze. _How do dragons stand this? It's so cold already and I am hardly beyond my own clan's borders. This wind dragons are the most unusual creatures I have ever heard of. Why would they do this to themselves?_

The large female Imperial landed just outside the cairn stone marking the Clan Nifari. She walked up to the edge and waited for someone to notice her presence and inquire about it. She watched a tiny Mirror dragon following a much larger nearly identical one in the distance. _Must be a parent and child._

It stuck her then that she had been given no information about this clan. Siobha had no idea who the clan leader was or anything. How was she to find a dragon when she didn't know what they looked like or even what gender they were?

She must have only stood there for a few minutes before someone saw her. How could one not when The Mistral Jamboree had just ended that day and it would be three weeks before the Wavecrest Saturnalia was due to start.

She absently stroked the egg with her claws. It felt very weird doing this to a dragon that hadn't even hatched yet. She had no idea what sort of creature was going to be in the egg. It could have been anything. So innocent. Siobha almost didn't want to do it. She felt terrible for having to put this young one, who hadn't even had a chance yet to do anything, into this situation. How could anyone be so cruel? It didn't help that she would have to remain here with the dragon.

"Hello? Can I help you?" The smaller Nocturne waddled up and stood just on the other side of the stone. He was curious about the Plague dragon. He tilted his head and watched her. He could tell if she was nervous or lost. "Are you lost or something?"

"Ah, no. I'm actually here to see…..um…." She had completely forgotten his name. "The leader of your clan. I'm sorry, but his name escapes me right now. Can you take me to him?"

"You want to see Lixian and Sunara, of course. Follow me. My name's Nemure. " He waddled down the path and over to the main den. The clan leaders were in conversation with a few of their council members, figuring out how they were going to proceed with the Riot of Rot coming up. Nemure smiled. "He's right in here. Just wait, and he'll come out to you."

"Alright." She sat and cradled the egg in her forepaws. Siobha wasn't exactly sure what was going to happen here. She just knew that her Leader had told her that she was supposed to take the egg to the clan. There were no instructions after that. She sighed, it was hard to understand how Zamola's mind worked.

A crystal Mirror strode up beside her, "What have you got there?"

"This? It's an egg I found out in the wild. I'm afraid I'm currently on my own, and have no lair in which to raise it. I figured since it was a Wind egg, I would bring it to you and see if you had the lair space to raise it." She nudged the egg toward the other dragon. Siobha could see that it was another Plague dragon, and she momentarily wondered if Zamola had planted this one as well. She couldn't remember there being any other crimson crystal dragons in their clan though. "I will understand if you can't, and I will take it to another clan in the Plateau."

Girami took a moment to appraise the dragon before her. She was definitely new, and unused to the ways of the clan. If she'd been there before, she would have been far less familiar toward Girami and would have mentioned her status. She paced around the Imperial with a careful eye. She was strong, fit, and definitely healthy. There was no way this dragon had been living on her own in the Scarred Wasteland.

"You lie."

"I'm sorry?"

"A dragon with your health and color is not a loner out in the Wasteland. You were lying to me. Tell me the truth. Who's clan do you belong to?" She narrowed her eyes. "I will find out either way. I am an Elder, there is naught that is spoken of by the Plaguebringer that does not reach me through the aether one way or another."

"I…." She gulped and shrank down against the egg. "My name is Siobha. I am from the Zarazan Clan lead by the Plague Mirror, Zamola. We really did find an egg and we really don't have room for it." She put her head down and wondered if this dragon was really as powerful as she claimed. Siobha hadn't expected to be caught so easily. It must have been because the dragon who was talking to her was another Plague dragon. That was the only rational way she could explain it.

"Hmm..."

"Elder Girami….do you have a moment?" An Imperial landed beside them. He folded his wings behind his back and bowed to the Mirror. "I simply had a question about farming plants native to the Scarred Wasteland."

"Alright, what is your question?"

"Are there plants native to the Scarred Wasteland?" Zakura laughed. He was trying to come up with a list of the plants that they were growing for Kojiki, and he knew that they could grow Plague plants right on the border, but he was having trouble thinking of any.

"Not really. I can get you a list of the flora and fauna that is naturally found in my homeland." She looked at Siobha again and made sure she understood that she was not to do anything outright stupid while there. "I am keeping my eye on you. I will know if you step out of line. Lixian will be out shortly."

"Okay..." She blushed hard and turned her head away. Siobha could only hope that this dragon was well taken care of here in this clan. She actually hoped that this wouldn't work. This dragon deserved better, regardless of its origins. She lay by the door and waited for the clan leader to come out of the den.

She didn't wait long. It took only a few minutes for Lixian noticed the strange Imperial sitting outside the den. He had not seen her in their lair before and was curious about her unannounced presence at the clan's council den. Lixian folded his wings and stepped out of the den and watched her. She was playing with what looked like a wind egg. At first he thought she had taken it from one of the nests, but then he'd remembered that all of the parents where there with the children. He came forward and tilted his head toward her.

"Hello….can I help you?"

"Ah, yes!" She stood, picking up the egg and holding it out to him. "My name is Siobha. I came from the Wandering Contagion. My clan found this egg, but we do not have the room to raise it as one of our own. It was the wish of my clan leader that I ask you if you had the time and space for both this egg and myself to join your clan and be of use to you."

He took the egg and motioned for her to follow him into the den, "Sunara, this is Siobha. She says she is here to ask for our clan to take in her and this Wind egg that she has found. Do we have the space necessary to accommodate them both?"

"Yes, my Lixian." The female Mirror nodded. "We just had a few of our hatchlings move on to their new homes in other clans, so we have the space…..oh my. It looks like that egg is hatching already!" She smiled as the cracks formed on the egg's surface, a tiny clawed foreleg trying to push the shell away. There was a cry as the baby pushed the shell apart and his small face poked out. "It looks like...a Guardian. I will personally take him down to Aerena and Tanidi to be kept with the other hatchlings until he is old enough to be sexed and then given a name."

"As you wish my dear. I will stay and speak with Siobha about her clan while you are gone." He gave his mate an affectionate nuzzle and turned back to the Imperial female. "Can you tell me about the clan you came from?"

"I can try."

"That would do."

"I came from the Zarazan clan to the north of here. We are a Plague clan, obviously." She thought about it. She didn't know that much about her original clan either. "I'm afraid I don't know much about the reasoning behind the way Zamola runs her clan. I just know that she does it with pride."

"She sounds like a good leader for your clan."

"She is."

"Why did you leave?"

"We had a nest of two that was ready to hatch and only one lair space available."

"So you volunteered to leave with the egg?"

"Yes, sir."

"I see. Go on."

"I didn't want to take the egg to another Plague clan."

"I understand why."

"Yes. I thought that as a Wind clan, you would be best suited to raise whatever dragon was hatched."

"I think this little one would make for a fine guard, maybe even taking over for our Captain when he decides he is no longer able." Lixian smiled at her and walked down to where the sleeping dens were located. "I think a few on the lower tier are still available. If you would like, you may pick one out. Then go see Mifeng. She's a Nocturne down in the dens. Look for the giant mud dauber. Hard to miss."

"Okay..."

"I have some other duties to attend to, but I will be back to see how your doing later." He smiled and took to the air. Siobha, however, walked down to the lowest row of the private dens for sleeping. These dragons had taken everything into consideration when building their sleeping areas, making sure that this section had actually spiraled down into the ground to prevent dragons and their belongings from being blown away on the winds. She had followed others and looked for what would be the nearest empty den to just rest for a while.

She made her way along the various entryways until she came to the last one. It was vacant as far as she could tell. Siobha stepped into it, and looked around. It was made to be able to handle any of the dragons that decided to live there. One could take sand and dirt and make their private den smaller or remove the dirt to make it tunnel deeper if they wanted. She settled herself into the bed of soft dried grasses and looked around. This was something she could get used to. No more fighting over the least contagious patches of shale in the lair.

She stretched and rolled around, making sure her scent got onto the bedding. A few of the gem-like scales from her back dislodged and got themselves worked into the bedding. _This will do._ She purred slightly and left the den to find the Nocturne she had been told to look for. Lixian had been right, she was hard to miss. She was about six meters long and covered in indigo scales resembling the pattern on a wasp. Siobha walked over to her and tried to hide the grin.

"Are you Mifeng?"

"I am."

"Okay, good. Lixian told me to find you."

"Oh? What for?"

"I'm in need of a Familiar."

"Well then! Come with me and I'll take you down to the prime place to find a Familiar. I assume you'll be needing one now that you've come to the Nifari clan." She put his arm over her neck and lead her toward Critio's den. Mifeng babbled on about various things until they got there, much to Siobha's discomfort. "Right then. You go on in and I'll wait here."

"Um...okay." She went through the gate and down the little path between some fenced off pastures. Right away she noticed a large bird...horse...thing. It was staring her down, its head constantly flicking to the sides. Siobha had no idea what it was, but it sort of interested her.

"You like the Hippalectryon?"

"The hippa-what?"

"Hippalectryon." The Imperial smiled and opened the gate so it could come forward. "I've never seen him so intensely focused on anybody before. Name's Critio. I look after the clan Familiars that aren't paired up with a dragon yet."

"I'm Siobha. He is certainly...interesting." She got up on her hind legs and reached out to touch the soft feathers of the Hippalectryon's chest. The large beast simply leaned down and nudged her shoulder in return.

"That's new. I think he's chosen you for his partner." He moved out of the way and let the newly bonded Familiar make his way out of the pen. "You can train with him here every day. I have special stalls set up over here to house the Familiars while their dragon partners are sleeping. You can chose any paddock you want that isn't already occupied."

He lead her over to a specially built stable where all sorts of Familiars slept or played while they weren't with their dragons. Siobha walked along the stalls. Really any of them would do, but she felt like picking one out herself.

"Is number twenty-nine open?" She motioned to the little number tacked above the stall.

"It sure is." Critio lead the Hippalectryon to the door to show it where it would be staying form now on. "Would you like to spend time with him or leave him in the stall?"

"I'd rather leave him here for right now. I'm still learning my way around here. Just got in, you know." Siobha grinned and watched him for a second.

"I understand. I see you've met Mifeng. Why don't you talk to her about learning the ropes of being a Welcoming Dragon. We only have the one now and just about everybody who is old enough already has a duty in the clan."

"What happened to the rest?"

"Hmm?" He had zoned out putting fresh food into the trough for the Familiar. "The rest of who?"

"The rest of the Welcoming Dragons."

"Oh there was only one other, Kiriel. She's moved on to another clan now, so we are down to just Mifeng. He would probably love the help." He flared his chocolate wings and then closed them against his back. Critio hoped she would make a good Welcoming Dragon for the clan now that he had seen her.

"Why do you think I'd be good for this?" She blushed softly. "You don't even know me."

"I'm aware. We just have a shortage of dragons that would qualify for the job." He shrugged his massive shoulders. She didn't have to do it if she didn't want to. Critio just thought he would ask.

"'Scuse me…." A big fluffy blue Tundra poked his head into the stables. "I'm lookin' for a dragon called Siobha. I was told she was here?"

"That's me..." She went and got the letter from him. It was from Zamola. She wondered what she could possibly have wanted already. "If you will excuse me, I must go and read this." She backed out of Critio's stables and made her way back to her own little den, curling on the bed and opening up the letter.

_Siobha _

_ I am writing to you because it has come to our attention that the dragon born from the egg will not know what to do. I want you to scrap the mission and stay with them as the insider. This was not planned out well. We can try again some other time to infiltrate their ranks and do some damage. Send a response back with that thickheaded Tundra. Hopefully he does not get lost between here and there._

_\- Zamola._

She looked at the little note and sighed. She would not have come all this way for nothing. Siobha sent back a reply on the same note that was sent to her. It just had 'No' on it in large red letters. Siobha would not try to hurt this clan. She would stay here. As soon as she'd written her response on the back of the parchment, she went looking for the Tundra dragon. Siobha found him curled up beside a larger female Snapper.

"Here, take this right back to the dragon who gave it to you." These dragons were treating her well, despite her Flight alignment. Perhaps Taxine was wrong. They weren't going to cause the Shade to return at all. She couldn't believe she had fallen for those stupid prophecy. Taxine didn't know her head from a hole in the ground. Siobha wondered how anybody ever believed her jumbled up messages.

"I won't go back."

"Hmm? Back where?" A lime green male rounded the corner. His den was right beside hers. His scales shimmered brightly in even the palest of lights. "Name's Kunzei. I'm new here, too. Just arrived yesterday. You?"

"Just got in this morning. I'm Siobha." She smiled at him. He was rather handsome even with the bright leaf green color of his scales. "You part of this non-existent welcoming committee that I heard about?"

"Nope. Just happen to be your neighbor." He laughed and settled in the dirt beside her. Kunzei could tell that they were going to be friends right from the start. "Did Critio try to talk you into joining the Welcoming Dragons, too? He's been doing that to everybody who shows up in the last few days. Hirite actually turned around and yelled at him."

"Wow, really? Why?"

"I guess he didn't want to be told what to do."

"That's harsh though."

"Yeah."

"So..."

"Oh yes, I came to ask if you wanted to go to the main den with me."

"Sure. Um, why are we going to the main den?"

"That's where the entire clan eats together. You'll get used to it."

"Oh."

"I figured you must not know your way around yet."

"Not particularly."

"I can take you wherever you want to go." He smiled and bowed his head, absolutely taken with the female Imperial. How could a creature so stunning have gone without his notice? She was the most beautiful Imperial dragon he had ever set his eyes on. Kunzei backed up and let her pass out of the den first, intent on being a gentleman to try and woo her to him. He wanted to impress her more than anything else he'd ever wanted in his life.

The walk between the spiral and the main den was a very short one. They didn't speak much as they made their way through the arch and over to the area where all of the clan's Imperials were seated together. It had never been intentional, but with the same sort of diet, the various species would all just cluster together to eat. Those who were the only one of their species would go to groups with at least one common food group. It was not rare to see a single Spiral sitting with a group of Fae or the other way around.

A latte brown female from the Plague clan was playing with a stone within the group of Wildclaws, her long, sharp, black claws clacking against the smooth surface. She had discovered this rock hidden in the barrel that her partners had brought to their clan a week earlier. It appeared to be just another hunk of sacridite, but she found it absolutely fascinating.

"What have you got?" Siobha smiled, leaning over to see it.

"Nothing you need to be worried about."

"Oh. I was just curious..." She went back to Kunzei. "What's her deal?"

He leaned over her shoulder to see who she was talking about, "Oh. That's Valvao. She's one of the clan's scavengers. We're pretty sure it's because she steals things. Not very like an Wildclaw, I know. I think she might be a transspecies dragon. Formerly a true to heart Ridgeback."

"Transspecies?"

"Mhm. I only know of one. Rikial over in the Yeahunu clan. I hear he used to be a Ridgeback. I think he's coming by tomorrow to do maintenance and maybe get some lights going in the lower den level. You can ask him about it."

"What is he now?"

"Mirror." Kunzei pushed a pile of seafood toward her. "He's a great mechanic. Helped their leader with her wings. I don't know what was wrong with them. But, you know, it is what it is." Kunzei got them situated with the other Imperials for their meal. He spent the rest of the afternoon showing Siobha around their lair and explaining various areas to her.


	6. Chapter 6

_A/N: My apologies for any tardiness on this fic. I got distracted with other things and then even though I had the chapter finished, I kept forgetting to edit and upload. I have gotten done what I can. Please let me know if there are any grammatical or continuity errors that I have to fix. I appreciate it. For now, let us continue with our tale of the Nifari Clan~_

**Chapter 6**

Murmured chatter filled the open field. The dragons of the Nifari clan had gathered together under the direction of their Elders. They looked at each other and shifted nervously. The Elders had started bringing all of the dragons together early that morning, without telling any of them why. It was roughly midday and now all of the Nifari dragons were gathered together. None of them knew why.

"I'm sure you all are wondering why we have gathered you all here." Inseza looked around the collected clan. Her bright yellow eyes taking stock of anything and everything that looked like it might have been out of place. She noticed one of the Wildclaws, a female named Valvao, absently stroking something on a cord around her neck. "It has been brought to the attention of the Nifari clan that one of our sister lairs up in the Sunbeam Ruins has lost an important artifact. There is a dragon here with us now who is looking for this stone. I will now give her time to talk to you all and tell you more about this artifact she is searching for."

Inseza stepped to the side and allowed another remarkably similar dragon to step forward before the clan. A rush of murmurs traveled through the group. They had almost all had interactions with her over the course of the last few days, barring the dragons who had been away from their clan. Valvao, Khaola, and Agrios had not yet met her. Neither had Feliar, who had been down at the market selling their wares at the time of her arrival.

"Hello," The yellow Imperial dipped her head in greeting. "My name is Cahaya. I am here from the Mebirati lair in the Beacon of the Radiant Eye. We have had a stone, a piece of Sacridite, in our lair since we have lived in the Sundial Terrace. It is very important to us and we have been searching for it for quite a few months now." She sighed. "Halbon, my clan leader, believes that one of our young from our clan may have accidentally knocked it into a barrel of goods being sent to the market place. That barrel was bought in it's entirety. We do not know if the dragon who purchased the barrel still possesses it or if they have resold its contents to other clans around Sornieth. Thus, myself and a few other dragons have been sent out on a mission to look for it. If you know _anything _about a piece of Sacridite that was found recently in a barrel of old festival decorations, please, please let me know."

"We will be doing an extensive search of the Vault and Merchants dens just to be on the safe side." Lixian said. "It isn't that we don't trust you, it's just that we understand how small seemingly innocuous stones can go unnoticed among the greens and yellows of our home and the native Citrine found here."

The clan murmuring increased for a few seconds. Slowly the multitude of eyes turned to one dragon in particular, known for her thieving ways. The whole of the clan looked at Valvao, and the stone she had on a string around her neck. It was of a pale yellow hue and much reminded them of the stone that they were looking for.

"Hey! I haven't got it. I didn't get my necklace from no barrel. I got it from Kojiki." She motioned to the Historian who wasn't far from her. "A hatchday gift."

The Light dragons watched her, unsure if they believed her or not. She was known for lying to try to get away with keeping items she 'found' all over the lair. Some innocent and others rather ill-gotten gains. She growled low at them, flying off with her necklace still grasped firmly in her paw.

* line *

Valvao walked back to her den. She had noticed the way the other dragons had been looking at her. Like she had something. Something important that they very much wanted. Perhaps they were jealous of her pale yellow gemstone she carried around. She still remembered the day she found it. It was etched into her mind forever.

* * *

_ Agrios stretched his long legs and stood. The Mistral Jamboree, a week long festival dedicated to the Windsinger, would be starting soon. It took place during the last week of March and he couldn't have been more excited if he tried. He and all the other dragons who lived in the Windswept Plateau were getting ready. Even dragons like himself, who came from the Scarred Wasteland were welcome to the celebration. They were preparing their lair for the holiday and he'd managed to come up with something to use. He rolled the large barrel of decorations into his den. He'd gotten it from a nice Nocturne down in the market._

_ "Look what I found!" He yelled, getting the attention of Xinpei, an Tundra. He rolled the barrel over to the dragon and pried the lid open. "I got us some stuff for the Jamboree! Check it out, it was super cheap." _

_ Xinpei snorted into the barrel, its contents proving to be nothing more than a few tattered windsocks that had seen better days and a pennant that she was sure was actually for the Greenskeeper Gathering, "What are we supposed to do with these? They are not fit for the celebration. I bet you found them in someone's refuse pile. Take them to the market and try to sell them to that idiot Tundra girl, she'd take them." _

_ Agrios grumbled. He turned and started decorating his own little part of their den with. I don't need Xinpei's approval to decorate my sleeping area! I can do that if I want to! He put the ripped green and yellow windsocks up, purring to himself. He pulled them down after a few seconds and rearranged them. _

_ "What are you doing?" _

_ "I'm decorating for the Jamboree, I'm just having a hard trouble putting everything where I want it."_

_ "Do you need help? I have quite the long neck. I wouldn't mind helping a friend in need." Valvao, a slender female Wildclaw, flew up to the top of the ledge. She held the pennant where he wanted. Buzhan, a little Fae, came swooping in and used her own magically cured amber to tack the pennant to the wall. They stepped back to admire their handiwork. _

_ "I love it. Thank you so much for helping me. This is going to be the best Jamboree of them all!" _

_ "Of course! Are you going to be decorating for the Wavecrest Saturnalia next month?" Buzhan giggled. She was an Earth Flight dragon herself, but very pleased to see that other Flights were decorating their dens for the Windsinger's festival. "I could help. I think we have some water-themed things around here somewhere." _

_ "That sounds great. I think they might have some cool items down in the market that I can pick up. I know that Elder Kierna has the Familiar from last year. I wonder if she has the Apparel?" He put the pieces he hadn't used back into the barrel and set it off to the side. He'd sell them at the end of the festival and bring in more money for the clan. "Does anybody know if we need anything from the market?"_

_ "Nothing that I can think of." _

_ "Alright. Thanks again, you guys." He smiled._

_ "Any time, Agrios." Valvao walked back to her den, both of the Spiral dragon's marsh rabbits hidden in her wings. Tucked safely away was also a pretty stone. It looked like a piece of Sacridite, but she wasn't sure just yet. She purred and curled up in the little hoard she'd been keeping for herself. It was made entirely of things she'd stolen from the rest of her clanmates and from the creatures she'd defeated in the wild. She put the rabbits with the other animals she'd obtained. "How absolutely oblivious these dragons are! I could steal the very gold right out from under their snouts and they'd never notice!" _

_ Valvao sorted through her vast piles. She looked at the different items she'd collected over the weeks that she'd spent with this clan. Books, a few pairs of half-moon spectacles that she was sure were from the market, some coral grouse that were running around in their pen, and a pile of Geodes she got during the Rockbreaker's Ceremony the previous year. The pride of her collection though, was a beautiful yellow gem strung on a choker. Valvao had stolen it from the market because she adored it. She wore it everywhere she went, telling her clanmates that it had been a gift from her last mate before she'd left her home clan. It was the one thing she owned that she wouldn't let anybody touch._

_ "You need to give those back." _

_ "Give what back?" Valvao turned her head away from the only dragon that had ever managed to force her to do anything, Rhethi, the clan's best warrior. He always knew when she'd taken something and would come to make her return it. "I don't know what you're talking about, you rotten Scaleback. I've taken nothing….recently…" _

_ "You took Agrios's marsh rabbits. I was training just on the other side of the ridge with the young ones. Even they saw you slip them into your fur. You need to return them. Do you really want to set such a poor example in front of the impressionable youth?" He flared the spines along his back, readying himself for a fight. Rhethi narrowed his bright orange eyes at her. "It's a wonder the clan keeps you, with your inability to leave things that do not belong to you alone."_

_ "If you knew me at all, you wouldn't be asking that. I'll give the weak little noodle back his bunnies if that will get you off my back." She walked out of her den and dropped them onto his lap along with one of her own dust slithers as a peace offering. "Happy now, Rhethi?" _

_ "Hnn. I'd be happy if you stopped stealing all together, but even I know that's a pipe dream." He turned and went back to the hatchlings that were waiting on him. Rhethi kept his eye on her. He didn't know what they were going to do with Valvao. She was the best scavenger Lixian had. She was the only one who was able to find more than just sparrow skulls out on the steppes. _

_ Valvao sulked back into her den, flopping into her pile of Jackalope pelts and sighing. She couldn't believe she'd been caught trying to take two tiny marsh rabbits of all things. She ran her claws over the jewel at her throat, wondering how to get Rhethi to leave her alone. It was not his duty to always be checking up on her. Why did he care anyway? He was with Tanidi, that tiny Fae from earlier. She grunted again and curled up on herself. He was not her keeper and she would be sure he knew it._

_ Agrios looked down at the rabbits and snake in his lap. Why had Valvao come and toss them in front of him? He knew the rabbits had come from his stockpile, and he did eat meat, but if she had needed them he would have let her keep them. He also really could not understand why she had come and given him the snake on top of it._

_ "Rhethi? Are you busy?" He flew over and landed on a boulder beside the training grounds for the hatchlings. He watched the young tumble over one another. "I would like to talk to you about Valvao." _

_ The white Guardian smiled at the young, "You are dismissed for today. Voliss, you are the oldest, I trust you will take the others back to Aerena and Tanidi safely. Now then, you wanted to discuss her?"_

_ "Yes?"_

_ "Alright." He sat down beside the Spiral male. He had not worn his armor that day. It was easier to train with the hatchlings and adolescents without it. "What do you want to know?" Rhethi leaned back._

_ "Uhh…." Agrios hadn't actually thought that far in advance. What did he want to know? He had no idea where to start with this conversation. He wanted to know so much, but he couldn't think of a single thing to ask._

_ "You like her. Don't you?" _

_ "What?!" _

_ "You heard what I said. You like her." He snorted a little. Rhethi didn't blame him. Valvao was a beautiful Wildclaw. "It's okay. I think she has a lot of admirers." _

_ "How did you even know?"_

_ "There are things you pick up when you live in a clan as long as I have." He'd learned a lot since he'd been taken in by the Nifari clan. "You will have to be careful with her. She's very fickle. I've seen her turn down courtships before. She even said no to Lixian." _

_ Agrios flushed darkly. He wouldn't have put it past her to do that. Valvao definitely seemed like the dragon to do whatever she wanted, whenever she wanted. Regardless of the safety and wishes of others. _

_ "Why are you always so protective of her?" He turned his great blue eyes up to Rhethi. He'd seen the exchange they had earlier, and while he couldn't hear what was going on, he could tell that the one with the power in the conversation had been Rhethi. "Were you her mate before?"_

_ "Oh gods no. I've never been her mate. I'm much older than she is. I was only born in the beginning of March and she was born in December. It's more like I feel like her protective bigger brother." Rhethi smiled and looked at the mouth of her den. "I get that we don't look like we would be in any way compatible as friends. She and I usually get along pretty well. She's going to be heading out into the training fields again soon and I hope to join her when she gets to my rank." _

_ "Oooh." _

_ "Yes. I only keep her in line because my Flight has power against hers." He showed Agrios his eyes. "Fire beats Plague." _

_ "I know. Arcane's pretty neutral against it. I guess I wouldn't be able to do much to her, huh?" Agrios grinned. "I'm going to go put away the food." He turned back to his own den to put away the rabbits and snake. He would have to think of something nice to do in return for her gesture. _

* * *

She stroked a claw over the stone again. _What a curious thing you are. Why are all of those Light dragons interested in you? _Valvao put the stone in the chest she kept. This stone was obviously important and she aimed to figure out why. Why was this simple rock so special? Valvao stretched her wings and looked at the chest again. What and interesting development...

* * *

Cahaya wandered the lair. She started in the direction of the Merchant's Den to talk to them about her quest. It had been a few weeks since she had arrived and she had yet to find even a bit of information about the stone. It surprised her when a note came from one of the local courier dragons.

_Cahaya: _

_ I am sending this not to see how you are doing there in the Plateau. You haven't sent us a report in a while and we are curious to know how the mission is progressing. Please send back a report with Thairo when you have the chance. Thairo has been instructed to remain with the clan until you send a return note. _

_\- Halbon. _

She sighed. She had all but forgotten the stone. She figured a good place to start would be the Vault. Almost everything was there. She stopped outside the den and folded her wings. Peering in she saw no one at first. Perhaps there was no one in the den?

"Hello? Lierri?" She waited at the entrance.

"Yes?" The yellow Snapper stepped out from a pile of rogue gear. "Can I help you?"

"Maybe. I am seeking information and I was wondering if you may have any as the clan vaultkeeper." She made a rough shape with her paws. "As you know, I am in search of a yellow stone about this big. It's a bright, almost phosphorescent shade of yellow. Have you seen one in the last few months?"

Lierri thought about it for a few moments. A yellow stone, huh? The only one he could even think of was the pair that Valvao and Kojiki had on their necks. He shook his head, "No, sorry there aren't any light yellow stones that I can think of here...at least, none that pale."

She didn't have a chance to respond, the sound of a dragon's ferocious roar overcoming her senses for a moment. Cahaya turned to see what on Sornieth was going on. Something was rampaging across the edge of the cliff they were on. They entire clan had moved up to the Twisting Crescendo when they had realized there was just no more space in the lair they were in. It would seem, however, that this place was actually far worse than the Reedcliff Ascent had been. She watched a huge cyclone rip across the ground, tearing apart everything in it's path.

"Come in here! We have only a moment to get out of it's path!" Lierri shoved her into the rear of the den and hunkered down in front of her, being a difficult Snapper to move when he was in the mood. There was no getting out of the way of a cyclone of that size. They should have seen it coming sooner in the weather reports. The two dragons watched as it razed a path nearly as wide as the lair itself. Within seconds it was gone, leaving behind broken, tattered dens. Lierri waddled out of the vault and looked around. There was no mistaking what he saw.

The broken, lifeless bodies of several of his clanmates. They were strewn about like toys abandoned by a disinterested hatchling. He looked at the bodies of his friends, barely able to comprehend what had just happened. The cyclone had barely lasted more than five minutes and it had caused so much damage and destruction. The cyclone had moved too quickly for many of the older dragons of the lair to get out of it's way.

"Come, help me move some of the bodies. There could be live dragons underneath that are hurt." He nudged the corpses aside. Right now there was no time for mourning the dead. They had to find the living. Lierri moved the bodies of one of his best friends and clan alchemist, Hirite. "This is terrible. Nature is telling us something, and I'm not sure I want to hear it."

"Everyone okay over here?" Lixian flew down to where they were standing. He looked at the carnage. "Count the bodies, help the injured over to where Cynran and Noreni are treating them. Try your best to keep track of the dead and dying. If they don't look like they will make it, just take them over to the rest of the dead."

"Where are our fire dragons? We will have to begin the funerary pyres as soon as we can," Ayxxia, the clan's mortician spiraled down from her hiding place in the cliff face. "This many deceased are sure to cause an Emperor that we cannot defeat. Help me separate the Imperials so that they are a safe distance away from one another." She began dragging the body of the nearest Imperial as best she could, her small frame barely able to do more than nudge it.

* * *

In the days following the cyclone, the clan worked harder than ever. Cahaya could hardly believe it. This clan was so strong even in the face of an absolute disaster like this one. She couldn't believe it. They had discovered twenty-two dragons that had been killed and a few from other clans had been pulled along in the wake of the storm and were lost and confused within the Crescendo. Not knowing what else to do, the clan opted to allow the now homeless dragons to stay within their clan. It was the least they could do. They did their best to pick up and get the clan back to a semi-normal condition. They continued to hunt, scavenge, and fish for foods that they would need to feed their considerably smaller den. It would be a long journey, but the Nifari would survive this catastrophe.


	7. Chapter 7

_A/N: So, I'm sorry about this taking as long as it did to get out. I didn't mean for that. I sort of got into a fight with the printer (ran out of ink), then FanFiction was giving me issue and not letting my upload documents for a few days. Hopefully I can keep this theme going and get the chapter out at the next due date (2p EST every other Monday.) _

**Chapter 7**

The first call came so quickly Arrazi missed it. He had been minding his own business when all of a sudden he could smell the Shadowbinder's must on the wind. He heard the second call for him.

_Little one…my Arrazi._

"Yes, your lordship. What do you need from me?"

_It has come to pass. Prepare yourself. Have you given the stone as I instructed you? Is the stone with my people in the Tangled Wood?_

"It is. I sent it the very second I recognized it. Bundled with some fabrics we were sending out to them anyway for whatever it was that they wanted them for." He ducked his head lightly at the shadowy image in front of him. "Is there anything else you would like me to do?"

_I would like you to be my envoy. Go to this clan in my Wood. Make sure you alert them to this. I cannot have my sister finding the stone and using it. Remember what it will cause to us and the Plague-born. We cannot afford to lose what control we have. If this stone falls into the wrong hands, the Shade will return. You have your histories, you know what happened the last time the Shade was here._

"Yes, I remember. It was terrible what happened to you and your siblings. I wouldn't wish it upon any of our current clans." He kept his head bowed. "I will do my best to prevent the return of the Shade. I just, I am an elder here. How will I convince the clan that I should go to another territory?"

_I am proud of you, my child. You will find a way. Do your duty and do it well. _The shapeless form of the Shadowbinder dissipated into the air as Arrazi lifted his head. The Shade could possibly return. Growing up he had thought the Shade was but a myth told to hatchlings to scare them into believing in the gods that may or may not have even existed.

* line *

Arrazi paced around his private den. He grunted, deciding when and how he was going to get word to Kyanna, his former lair mate and nest partner out in the Tangled Wood. How had that Imperial known to search this clan out of all of the clans she could possibly have been to in the Windswept Plateau? It wasn't like this was a small place. It was one of the largest of the countries.

"Ah this is terrible..." He paced in a circle. Arrazi grumbled about the whole thing. This is going to be the end of us. Arrazi snarled low, turning around again in his den and looking straight into the eyes of that dragon. The one the Plague Imperial had brought. "What?"

"Ah, uh, sir." The Guardian shuffled nervously on his huge feet, wings scraping against the top of the den opening. Dirt clumps fell all around as he tried to work up the courage to talk. "Uh...Lixian, he sent me...said he wanted to talk t-to you?"

"Are you asking me or telling me?" Arrazi got right up into the dragon's snout. How could this be the little dragon that was brought here from Zamola's clan? He didn't believe it one bit. "I would be very careful how you chose your next words, Sabili."

Sabili flinched at the implied threat, "Telling."

"Good," Arrazi said. "Get out of my way." He pushed his way past Sabili and flew off. He was nervous all of the sudden about what Lixian could possibly want him for. He gave another warning snarl at the idiot Guardian as he passed.

Arrazi cast his deep purple gaze toward the ground to look for the greenish Spiral as he landed in the communal clan area. He finally spotted Lixian quite literally wrapped around one of the large reeds growing from the cliff face they lived on.

He landed in the grass just below the reeds and looked up, "Sir, may I ask what you are doing up in the reeds like that?"

"Hmm? Oh, looking for a lost puff."

"A lost...puff."

"Yeah. One of the ragepuffs got away and I think it went into the reed top here to seek shelter from the wind. I just can't seem to find it though."

"Shouldn't that be Critio's job? To hunt down the angry ball of feathers?" Arrazi rolled his eyes at the antics of their 'great' leader. How could one so harebrained be running this huge clan with no consequences? "Anyway, you asked to see me?"

"Yes." He climbed down from the reed.

* * *

Mrenda scowled as she tucked her wings tighter against her sides. She had no idea how her fellow Tikuri were keeping themselves from touching the disgusting pustules lining the cavern walls. Her senses were absolutely being assaulted now. _Ugh, now I remember why I prefer my home in the caverns of the Brambles. These dragons are horrific._

"Are you coming?" A Fae, Turosi, in front of them called back, "Zamola doesn't abide dawdlers. You'll best be hurrying along now."

"Shut up. I'll take my time to get there and she'll just have to wait." Mrenda growled, walking down the path. She absolutely would not have some two kilo Fae telling her what she should do. She was a clan leader after all and deserved more respect than that. "You'll do best to remember that I am not to be trifled with. I do not care what your leader likes. You will not rush me."

Turosi just flicked her small tongue out and shrugged, moving down the lair quickly. It was that Nocturne's funeral. She lead them into the great cavern where meetings were held. A deep, putrid green glow emanated from the center. The Fae flew straight to the side of a Mirror dragon and whispered something into her ear before settling along the outermost edge of the cavern.

Mrenda shivered. She hated this clan and their repulsive observance of the Plaguebringer's ways. She only tolerated their very existence because they were aiding her in her mission from the Shadowbinder. They needed to keep the Light dragons from getting this stone back. The balance would be shifted and the dragons of chaos and destruction would be no more.

"It is for their own good, we must keep them from the stone." She mumbled low to herself. Mrenda sat beside the roiling cauldron. "Zamola. Why have you called me to this place?"

"It's starting. Abelus has recently given us a prophecy. The dragon from the Ruins is on the move. She's settled into the Plateau. It won't be long until she starts to make her way over toward us. We are close to their lands. The airheads will send her straight up here toward us. The curse of laying directly north of them. Then when she doesn't find it here, she will go one of two ways. Either to the Starfall west of us, or to the Wood in the east."

"So?"

"You idiot. You have the rock. Do you want the cursed dragon showing up on your lair's den step looking for it?"

* * *

Ayxxia watched carefully. She thought she had seen one of her eggs start to shake in the nest. They would be hatching any day now and she could not wait to see her babies. Another egg gave a slightly shake as a crack appeared.

"Haegol! Come look. The eggs are hatching. We will get to greet our young soon." She nuzzled the egg that had yet to move, curious if this one would hatch along side its siblings. "Are you as nervous and excited as I am, Haegol?"

The Imperial dragon leaned forward to nuzzle the eggs, watching. He was nervous. He wondered if the dragonlets would favor him or his partner in the breeding this time. Haegol watched the crack lengthen on the greenish colored egg. He remembered his previous nest.

"The babies will be perfect, I think." He watched a little red and black nose poke its way through the shell. The first hatchling appeared, wide pale green eyes. It looked very much like it's mother with the exception of the skeleton-like markings a dark terracotta red instead of her pale creamy white.

He watched as the other two eggs slowly cracked apart. The second baby had the same terracotta colored markings as the first, and the third a darker red than his siblings. Haegol was in love with every single one of them. He nudged the babies toward their mother so she could get a better look at them.

"They all look like you."

"Well, mostly." Ayxxia laughed, watching the hatchlings stumble around the nest. They were only newborn and would take a few days before they were ready to leave the nesting ground. Aerena would take care of them if Ayxxia or Haegol were needed for the clan.

* * *

The council had gathered. They had received an an unusual note from a neighboring clan in recent days that was raising a lot of concern for the dragons of the Nifari. There was rumor spreading. The gods were angry. They had done something to upset the balance and ancient, long dead breeds were suddenly showing up in the world.

"You mean to tell me, that dragons all around Sornieth have been seeing great and terrible dragons just rising from the ice?" Eritti said, incredulous. "Impossible!"

"Not just the ice," Kalayo whispered. "I have heard there are also some practically erupting from the Great Furnace in the Wastes. No one has seen dragons like this in a very long time. Do you think Kojiki has anything on them in the archives?"

"Perhaps, let's ask her." Tavise rumbled from his place at the Lightning seat. Xinpei nodded in agreement. There had to be something somewhere in the clan archives about these ancient dragons. "Who will go to see her, and find out?"

Taloni lifted her head, "I volunteer to go. As a fellow Wind dragon, she and I both have a natural attraction to knowledge and learning. Perhaps it will be easiest for me to ask her. I will go down and see what it is she has to say."

Her long body lifted from the Wind seat and spiraled out of the Council den and down toward the clan archives. She made her way down to the den, and landed beside it, looking around to see if the Coatl in charge of keeping clan records was easily spotted today. It was always a guess with the piles of Owlcat journals that were just everywhere. Kojiki was meticulous with her record keeping.

"Hello? Are you in, Kojiki?"

"Yes?" The pale yellow head of the Coatl female peeked up from over her books. "Can I help you, Elder Taloni?"

Taloni dipped her head lightly, "Just Taloni, please. There's no need to be that formal. I was wondering if you had any information for me on ancient dragons species?"

Kojiki spun in a slow circle, looking at the journals and books stacked around the den. She knew there was something here, somewhere...ah. There. She plucked an older book from the shelf and opened it up.

"Here we are." She flipped the book open to the page she had on ancient dragons, and read it aloud, "_Gaoler, pronounced __jail·er,__ dragons are the first children of the Icewarden. The breed originates from__ The Fortress of Ends__, and they have remained in the Southern Icefield for most of the modern era. __Gaolers are a large-sized, ancient species of dragon. They are covered in a thick, coarse fur coat that protects them from extreme temperatures. While Gaolers are most comfortable in colder climes, their fur also helps to regulate their temperature in extreme heat, and they maintain their coats year round. Their gnarled antlers shed each spring, and regrow during the summer months. Shed antlers are buried far away from the fastidious lairs of these wardens. Gaoler dragons have stunted, powerful wings that are used to assist in digging, climbing, and battle rather than flight.__Created to be the custodians of ancient horrors imprisoned by the Icewarden, Gaolers are duty-bound to seek out and contain the Shade and creatures alien to Sornieth. Gaoler society is highly structured and formed around 5 orders. Until a Gaoler joins an order, they are viewed as a child and do not have any responsibilities—or the respect of their brethren. When a Gaoler comes of age, they will join an order and receive a name.__**Seekers: **__An order dedicated to hunting the lands of Sornieth to capture and contain Shade creatures. __**Sentries: **__An order dedicated to stalking the perimeters of Gaoler prisons. They are the first line of defense against intruders, and the last line of defense against escapees. __**Keepers: **__An order dedicated to guarding lesser Shade creatures imprisoned in the mid-levels of a ward. __**Overseers: **__An order dedicated to containing the largest and most ancient Horrorbeasts. __**Sentinels: **__An elite guard that assist in protecting the Icewarden and the Pillar Fragment locked-away in the Fortress of Ends. Gaolers have been an isolated species for most of their existence, and have trouble navigating the modern world and politics of the warring flights. Gaolers don't construct lairs so much as they maintain prisons. The idea of creature comforts and building a cozy abode is foreign to them, and they feel such things make other breeds of dragon soft. Gaolers who join mixed-species lairs often carve out a utilitarian space for themselves, and try and keep that area free of the knick-knacks and useless decoration of their clanmates. They do not maintain hoards. Imposing warriors, Gaolers hunt the periphery of battlefields in groups. They use their magics and breath abilities to slow their enemies and ground aerial threats. Once hobbled, Gaolers will herd and harry their opponents until they can be contained._"

Taloni tilted her head. That didn't describe the dragons that had been seen in the Great Furnace. Gaolers were from the Southern Icefields. They were guards. Massive guards. "What of large Fire Flight dragons of old?"

"I will look." Kojiki went back through her book, flipping backward on the species of dragon until she found the article she was looking for. "Ach, I've told that silly Tundra not to eat near my books! These two pages were tacked together with his maple candies. Let's see..._Banescale are a medium-sized ancient species of dragon. They are covered in glossy, interlocking scales. Sometimes a scaled plate will take damage or fall out over the course of a Banescale's journeys, but barring catastrophic wounds, these scales are typically replaced after a couple of sheds. They boast an impressive fanned wingspan that compliments their powerful legs and tails. Banescale lack the forelegs of other species. Powerful aerial combatants, Banescale prefer engage with their enemies in the air, using their powerful talons to grapple and crush their foes. When they must engage with targets on the ground, breath weapons and hit and run tactics are their favored methods of dispatching an enemy._"

"Interesting. Dragons around Sornieth have been reporting seeing an eruption of the Great Furnace and these, what did you call them, Banescale dragons appearing out of the ash and dust." Taloni tapped her claw on her chin. This did not bode well for the rest of the clans. She wondered if any of these monstrosities had found their way into the Nifari clan yet.

* * *

The dark sable brown Pearlcatcher picked his way along the ground. They were out scavenging in the reeds that day, looking for anything dropped by other clans that flew or waddled through the area. He moved a clump of dried reeds out of the way and was startled by what he saw. Wind eggs. Six of them separated into two nests, one of five and the other just a single egg. His deep crimson gaze flicked up, wondering where on earth the parents of these eggs could be.

The low snarl from deeper within the reed bank startled him. He gazed in, seeing deep crimson looking back, "What you do, huh? Take egg?"

"What?" He blinked. Clearly that was a Plague dragon, but they had a weird way of speaking, almost as if they didn't know Sorniethian. How did any dragon on this little planet not understand the common language?

"You want take egg?!" A dragon that he'd never seen in his life came crashing out of the reeds. Khaola could just barely tell from the pitch of her voice that she was the female of whatever her species was. He stepped back as she crouched over the nests, pale pink wings covering the little green eggs. "No take. Eggs mine!"

"I don't want the eggs!" He tucked his wings closer to his sides. "Who...who are you?"

"Samela."

"Samela?"

"Yes. Name. You want, yes?" She kept her defensive stance over the eggs. "Name Samela."

Khaola blinked. "Please don't take this the wrong way, what species are you?"

"You not know? You just hatchling to us." She straightened. The dragon was large, yes, but not that much larger than Khaola himself was. "Banescale. Most from Great Furnace. I not. I from rotten place. Eggs, not from Furnace. From windy place." She nudged them a little. "Not like from windy place."

"Windswept Plateau..."

"What you say?" Samela tilted her head. "Wind?"

"Swept Plateau. The name of the country you're in. You must be from the Scarred Wasteland. It's where I'm from originally...what brought you out here to the Plateau?"

"Not know. Just...here." She looked around. Samela settled beside the eggs. "Why you here?"

"Scavenging for food and items we can use in my clan."

"What clan?"

"The Nifari clan. They're part of the Plateau. I came here when I was young to learn." He flagged down Valvao as she was passing, "Go back and find Lixian. Tell him there are Banescales out here. Ask him what we should do. I think we may want to bring them back to the lair. They have eggs. It's not safe to leave their eggs out here in the wilds. Get back as quickly as you can."

"Sir!" Valvao took off as fast as her legs would carry her. Like the rest of the Wildclaws, she was far swifter on land than in the sky. She did not like the strangely familiar build of the larger dragon that Khaola was talking to, sparing a few glances over her shoulder as she trekked across the grass.

Khaola turned back to the great Banescale, "Clearly there are others. There are two nests here. That means at least three, probably four of you. Where are the rest?"

"Look for food." Samela stayed crouched over her eggs. "Why send little one?"

"To clear space. You can't sleep here. There are too many wild beastclans that would have no qualms about stealing your eggs and eating them or just smashing them against whatever they come across. To stop your young from being able to grow up and fight against theirs. We'll take you into our clan to keep you safer so your nests can hatch properly." He shifted, stepping backward as a slightly larger dragon cleared the reeds. This one sky blue and very obviously male. Khaola dipped his head partly in fear and partly in respect for the dragons. He listened as Samela turned and muttered in a different language to the male. It was very similar to the Sorniethian they spoke, but definitely from another time.

"Aelron says we go."

"I take it that his name is Aelron?" He gestured toward the male.

"Yes. Alpha male. Two more. Rimana, Ithior. They come too. Bring eggs." Samela picked up three of the eggs in her mouth and watched him. Khaola wasn't sure what it was he was meant to be doing.

Aelron snorted, "You lead, yes? Take to lair." He nudged Khaola forward.

"Yes...right." He blinked a few times, two more equally large Banescale dragons stepping from the brush and collected the rest of the eggs. They followed soundlessly. Khaola had no idea what was going to happen now with these dragons, but he couldn't leave them out on the steppes where the beastclans could get to them. He could only hope that Lixian would be willing to accept the dragons into the clan.


End file.
